The History of
the Earth
Prof . K.S.Rao
Core
Concepts
You will
inherit
Earth.
How is science
done?
#1. Earth scientists use
repeatable observations
and testable ideas to
understand and explain
our planet. Any other
method is based on
faith.
How old is Earth?
#2. Earth is 4.6 billion years old.
What are the characteristics of Earths surface?
#3. Earths surface is a complex system of
interacting rock, water, air, and life.
How does Earth behave?
#4. Earth is continuously changing.
What is special about Earth?
#5. Earth is the water planet.
What is life's role on Earth?
#6. Life evolves on a
dynamic Earth and
continuously modifies Earth.
What is the human relationship to Earth?
#7. Humans depend on Earth for resources.
What are natural hazards?
#8. Natural hazards pose risks to humans.
What is the human impact on Earth?
#9. Humans significantly alter Earth.
Humankind is faced with global challenges.
How will we manage them?
Peak oil We probably wont run out of
oil. But it is likely to get very
expensive.
Global warming How quickly will
warming proceed and what are the
potential consequences?
Soil erosion It is estimated that 65% of
Earths soil is degraded by erosion,
desertification, and salinization.
Fresh water Around the world drought,
pollution, and overuse threaten water
resources.
Economic minerals Mineral resources
are finite and increased demand can
make some of them unaffordable.
Can you think of other global challenges?
The Universe
The Milky Way
Galaxy, one of
billions of other
galaxies in the
universe,
contains about
400 billion stars
and countless
other objects.
Why is it called
the Milky Way?
Welcome to our Solar System, how well
do we know our neighbors?
The Solar System
8 classical planets
5 dwarf planets
240 known satellites (moons)
Millions of comets and asteroids
Countless particles; and interplanetary space.
Earth, the Sun, and other objects in the Solar System originated at
the same time from the same source and have evolved in varying
ways since then.
Mercury
Vertical axis (no seasons)
Probable molten (Fe) core
Silicate (SiO2) shell
Atmosphere created by solar
wind
227oC to -137oC
Venus
Axis spin opposite to other
planets (upside down?)
Is core liquid or solid? -
Unknown
Active volcanism? - Probably
Atmosphere 96.5% (CO2)
477oC runaway Greenhouse
Effect
Mars
Iron core, partially liquid
Silicate (SiO2) mantle and crust
Active volcanism? - Probably
Atmosphere 95.3% (CO2)
Past flooding and fluvial
erosion of surface
Water has flowed in the past. But is now locked up as
ice in the ground and as polar ice caps. Drainage
features due to short-lived melting events
Between Mars and
Jupiter lies the Main
Asteroid Belt
There are millions of
asteroids; ranging from
icy to rocky; and several
different groups.
Among the oldest
materials in the Solar
System
MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS
Terrestrial planets are small and rocky, with thin atmospheres,
silicate and metallic shells.
O, Fe, Si, Mg, Ca, K, Na, Al
Jupiter's Great
Red Spot - A
hurricane the size
of Earth lasting
several centuries
Does Jupiter have
a hard surface?
Lack of hard
surface may allow
for different winds
at different speeds
hence, banding
90% Hydrogen,
10% Helium
Saturn: 9 rings of rock
and ice particles, 10,000
km wide and 200 km
thick
Outer layer of frozen
ammonia (NH3)
96% Hydrogen, 3.35%
Helium
62 moons
Uranus: axis tilted completely
on its side
82.5% Hydrogen, 15.2%
Helium, 2.3% Methane (CH4)
Neptune: highest winds in
Solar system, 2000 km/hr
80% Hydrogen, 18.5%
Helium, 1.5% Methane (CH4)
Neptune clouds
The internal structure of
Neptune:
1. Upper atmosphere, top
clouds
2. Atmosphere consisting of
hydrogen, helium and
methane gas
3. Mantle consisting of
water, ammonia and
methane ices
4. Core consisting of rock
and ice
Gas Giants are massive planets with thick
atmospheres.
He, H, CO2, H2O, N2, CO, NH3, CH4
Neptune
Jupiter
Uranus
Saturn
Direction of travel Comets are thought to
originate from regions of icy,
mineral-rich bodies that
Direction to Sun lie beyond the orbit of
Neptune.
What does a comet look
like? They are dirty
snowballs.
Comet Tempel, 19
seconds before impact
Edgeworth-Kuiper belt
and
Oort Cloud
Dwarf Planet
an object in the Solar System that orbits the Sun and is not a
satellite of a planet or other celestial body. It must be spherical (or nearly so)
in shape.
Origin of the Universe
The universe began about 14.4
billion years ago
The Big Bang Theory states that, in
the beginning, the universe was all in
one place
All of its matter and energy were
squished into an infinitely small
point, a singularity
Then it exploded
Origin of the Universe
The tremendous amount of material
blown out by the explosion
eventually formed the stars and
galaxies
After about 10 billion years, our solar
system began to form
Birth of the Solar System
We know how the Earth and Solar System are today and this
allows us to work backwards and determine how the Earth and
Solar System were formed
Plus we can out into the universe for clues on how stars and
planets are currently being formed
Nebular Hypothesis
In cosmogony, the Nebular Hypothesis is the currently
accepted argument about how a Solar System can form
Nebular Hypothesis
A large gas cloud (nebula) begins to condense
Most of the mass is in the center, there is turbulence in
the outer parts
Nebular Hypothesis
The turbulent
eddies collect
matter measuring
meters across
Small chunks grow
and collide,
eventually
becoming large
aggregates of gas
and solid chunks
Nebular Hypothesis
Pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope show newborn stars emerging from dense,
compact pockets of interstellar gas called evaporating gaseous globules
Nebular Hypothesis
Gravitational attraction causes the mass of gas and dust to slowly
contract and it begins to rotate
The dust and matter slowly falls towards the center
Proto-star
Birth of the Solar System
Protoplanets
Gravitational forces allow the inner planets to accrue and
compact solid matter (including light and heavy atoms)
Solar radiation blew gases (primarily hydrogen, helium)
away from inner planets
These gases were collected and condensed into the gas
giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)
Beyond Neptune, ice and frozen gases form Pluto, Sedna
and the Kuiper Belt Objects
Left-over debris form comets and asteroids
Birth of the Solar System
Solar Nebula
Hypothesis
The beginning of the
Solar System 6.9 billion
years ago
nebula formation
An ancestral star
ended its life: Red Giant
Explosion - Nebula
Formation of
a nebula
Nebula Collapse and Condensation
Rotation started by shockwaves
from a nearby explosion (?)
Because the solar nebula
was rotating, it contracted
into a disc, and the planets
formed with orbits lying in
nearly the same plane.
Planetesimal
accretion - ~5 to
4.6 billion yrs ago
When the Solar wind turned
on, volatiles were expelled
from inner Solar System
Terrestrial Planets
Gas Giants
Our Sun: A Massive Hydrogen Bomb held together by gravity
Solar core is site of nuclear
fusion.
H is converted to He, which
has less mass.
Mass differential is expelled
as energy (light and heat).
The Sun is getting lighter
through time.
Enough fuel to last another 4
to 5 billion years.
Earths Geomagnetic Field
Blown into a streamlined shape by the Solar Wind.
In time EARTHS interior accumulated
heat
New atmosphere created by volcanic
outgassing and delivery of gases and Hadean Era
water by ice-covered comets.
Early Earth
Near Moon Earliest phase of
Earth heating
Bombardment From Space
For the first half billion years of its existence, the surface of
the Earth was repeatedly pulverized by asteroids and
comets of all sizes
One of these collisions formed the Moon
Formation of the Moon
The Giant Impact Hypothesis predicts
that around 50 million years after the
initial creation of Earth, a planet
about the size of Mars collided with
Earth
This idea was first proposed about 30
years ago, but it took calculations by
modern high-speed computers to
prove the feasibility
Formation of the Moon
This collision had to be very spectacular!
A considerable amount of material was blown off into space, but most fell back
onto the Earth
Formation of the Moon
Part of the material from the collision remained in orbit around the Earth
By the process collision and accretion, this orbiting material coalesced into the
Moon
The early Moon orbited very close to the Earth
The Early Earth Heats Up
Three major factors that caused heating and melting in the early Earths interior:
1. Collisions (Transfer of
kinetic energy into heat)
2. Compression
3. Radioactivity of elements
(e.g. uranium, potassium,
or thorium)
The Evolving Atmosphere
For the next several hundred million years, volcanic out-gassing began to create a thicker
atmosphere composed of a wide variety of gases
The gases that were released were probably similar to those created by modern volcanic
eruptions
The Evolving Atmosphere
These would include:
Water vapor (H2O)
Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Ammonia (NH3)
Methane (CH4)
Note that oxygen (O2) gas is not created by volcanic eruptions
Creating the Oceans
It is hypothesized that water vapor escaping from the interior of the
Earth via countless volcanic eruptions created the oceans (this took
hundreds of millions of years)
Creating the Oceans
Astronomers also
hypothesize that comets
impacting the Earth were
a major source of water
that contributed to
creation of the oceans
Remember, that comets
are best described as
dirty ice balls
The Age of the Earth
Earth is ~ 4,570,000,000 years old
Meteorites give us access to debris left over from the formation of the
solar system
We can date meteorites using radioactive isotopes and their decay
products
Radioactive elements
Not all elements are radioactive. Those that
are and are the most useful for geologic dating
are:
U-238 Half-life = 4.5 By
K-40 Half-life = 1.25 By
C-14 Half-life = 5.73 years
Also, Sm-147, Rb 87, Th-232, U-235
U-238 DECAY
Often elements decay according to a complex decay
scheme in which a host of intermediate products,
many themselves radioactive, are produced.
U-238 is such an element and given its importance to
geologic dating, it is worthwhile to examine it decay
scheme.
Keep in mind that U-238 has a half-life approximately
equal to the age of the Earth, 4.5 B y.
Half-life for decay from U-238 all the way
Fig. 5.3
to Pb-206 is 4.5 b.y. (billion years).
U-238 Decay Series
Decay rates for intermediate daughter
products range from <1 sec (polonium)
to 1,622 years (radium 226).
Fig. 5.4
Schematic diagram showing decay of radioactive parent isotope (e.g. U-238)
to a daughter (e.g. Pb-206). The original isotope was sealed in a mineral
grain at time of crystallization. Note changing ratio of parent/daughter after
2 half-lives. Note that to get an estimate of the geologicc age, you need the
ratio of the parent isotope to the daughter isotope, e.g. two measurements.
Fig. 5.5
Simple arithmetic plot of a universal isotopic decay curve. After 1 half-life 50% of parent
isotope remains; after 2 half-lives, 25% remains.
What happens if the vertical axis is changed from linear to logarithmic?
BLOCKING TEMPERATURES
The Blocking Temperature is an important concept; it refers
to processes that result in a resetting of the atomic clocks in
a rock.
Essentially, it is possible to heat igneous and metamorphic
rocks to high enough temperatures that they no longer
behave as closed systems. That is some of the daughter
products can leak out of the primary mineral, giving an
erroneous parent/daughter ratio and hence a wrong age.
(Age for what? How could the age be interpreted in a rock in
which the blocking temperature has been reached?)
Fig. 5.7
Use of daughter lead
isotopes for dating. The
ratios of 3 radiogenic lead
isotopes to non-
radiogenic lead-204 all
change but at different
rates.
These ratios can also be
used to date a rock or
mineral.
Constant generation of C-14
Fig. 5.8
in the upper atmosphere by
cosmic particle bombardment
of N (nitrogen).
Nitrogen (N-15) emits a
proton and becomes C-14.
This is radioactive with a half-
life of about 5,730 years.
Plants and animals ingest this
radioactive C-14 while they
are alive. When they die, the
ingestion stops, and the
radioactive C-14 clock begins
to count down.
Fission tracks in an
apatite crystal.
Fig. 5.9
They are produced when
an atom of U-238
disintegrates emitting an
alpha particle, a Helium
nucleus (He-4). This
massive atomic particle
causes massive structural
damage in the crystal that
can be revealed by
etching.
The number of tracks in a
given area is proportional
to the age of the mineral.
(Why not just use the U-
238 to Pb-206 method
directly in such cases?)
Fig. 5.10
Metamorphic redistribution of daughter isotopes.
1. Mineral crystallizes 1000 mya (1 billion yrs ago)
2. After 500 my (million yrs) some parent isotopes have decayed.
3. 480 mya (million yrs ago) metamorphic event redistributes daughter atoms out of
crystal into adjacent rock
4. Dating of the mineral would now yield the age of the metamorphic event
5. But a whole rock age would provide the original age of the rock/mineral (1000 mya).
Geologic Time
Thank you for attention
24-07-17
