Origin of the Geosphere

● About 5 billion years ago

○ from spinning matter in a solar cloud or nebula.
○
● By 4.6 billion years ago
○ gravitational attraction had condensed a small protoplanet
○ Earth was heated by gravitational condensation, rapid decay of abundant elements and
asteroid impacts
○ Iron and nickel settled at the core and the silicate portion the mantle
● By 3.8 billion years ago
○ The surface of the earth was cool enough for bodies of water and sedimentary rocks to form.
○ Lighter gases escaped the atmosphere.
○ The rest of the atmospheric gases came from volcanic eruptions or from photo-reactions of
gases caused by sunlight
○ Oxygen existed in the early atmosphere by the photosynthetic activities of plants and animals
Probable Origin of the Earth
● Hot origins
○ Gravitational pull of passing comets had torn away hot masses from the sun which then
cooled to form planets
● A Cold Beginning
○ Aggregation of cold clouds of dust and gases
■ Planetesimal hypothesis
● Solar nebula (Nebular Hypothesis)
○ 5 or 6 billion years ago a gigantic, disc-shaped interstellar cloud of gases and dust was
spinning in the galaxy and the gravity concentrated more mass at the center of the disc which
forms the sun. In regularly spaced eddies in the spinning cloud, the cold planetesimals, dust
and gases concentrated to form the protoplanets
The Origin and Fate of the Moon
● Fission or “Daughter” hypothesis
○ Moon had been pulled out of the early Earth
● Capture or “Pickup” hypothesis
○ Moon was exotic body captured by the Earth’s gravity
● Coformation or “Sister” hypothesis
○ Earth and moon formed together as two separate condensations from the primordial accretion
disc
● Giant impact hypothesis
○ Moon was formed when a Mars-sized body collided with Earth
Major Zones of the Earth

Radius, Km

Atmosphere indefinite Early Atmosphere: H2 and He lost to space;

Outgassing hypothesis - gaseous transfer to the surface
through igneous processes; Photochemical processes;
Oxygen from photosynthesis

Hydrosphere 3.80 (average) The rate of accumulation of seawater is tied directly to

atmospheric production of water vapor

Crust 17 Rigid outermost layer;

Oceanic crust; Continental crust

Mantle 2883 Dense, hot layer of semi-solid rock. Composed chiefly of

ultramafic peridotite. Upper mantle is cooler and more rigid

Core 2471 Dense core rich in iron and nickel; Distinct part - liquid outer
core and solid inner core. As the Earth rotates, the liquid
outer core spins creating the Earth’s magnetic field.
Continental Drift
● Theory by Alfred Wegener
● Continental land masses were drifting across the Earth
● Earth’s continent were once part of an enormous single landmass called
Pangea.
● Observations were his theory was based:
○ The fit of the South American and South African coastlines
○ The presence of identical fossils across continents
○ The presence of similar mountain ranges across continents
○ The presence of coal deposits near the poles

From: National Geographics

Seafloor Spreading
● Theorized by Harry Hammond Hess
● Continents “rode passively on a convecting mantle”
○ A geologic process in which tectonic plates split apart from each other

From: National Geographics

Tectonic Plate Theory
● Theory that explains how major landforms are created as a result of Earth’s
subterranean movement.
● It explains mountain building events, volcanoes and earthquakes.

From: National Geographics

Earth’s History
1. Hadean - from the formation of Earth to the first possible evidence for life
2. Archean - advent of atmospheric oxygen
3. Proterozoic (0.5 billion years ago) - explosion of diverse animal forms
4. Phanerozoic - current geologic eon
Origin of the Atmosphere
● Composition of atmosphere depended on whether it is established before or
after creation of iron-rich core (Joyce 1989)
○ Before: strongly reducing atmosphere - CH4, H2, H2O and CO
○ After: weak reducing atmosphere - H2O, CO2 and CO
● Outgassing
○ Differentiation of the Earth and the release of gases by volcanoes
● With time - initial atmosphere composition: N2 and CO2, water vapor, small
amounts of H2, NH3, CH4 and H2S.
Origin of Hydrosphere
● The period when water was exactly formed is based on the discovery of
stromatolites with an age of 3.5 billion of years. Stromatolites are bacterial
mats formed in shallow water.
● Delsemme (1992) argued that most water in the oceans has an exogene
origin delivered by comets and meteorites
Rise of Oxygen
● In the early atmosphere, there was little amount of oxygen gas.
● Cyanobacteria produced the free oxygen through photosynthesis.
● Kasting (1993) stages on the rise of oxygen:
○ Stage I - Oxygen was incorporated in mineral and rock phases (based on the observation of
Banded Iron Formation-BIF).
○ Stage II -when the free iron ions were depleted, oxygen began to increase in concentration
Origin of Biosphere
● “Rocks create life, life creates rock”
● Rocks contains minerals that may have served as ingredients for the
formation of biological compounds
○ Miller-Urey Experiment - set up an experiment holding water (to represent early ocean),
ammonia, methane and hydrogen (to represent early atmosphere) with electric sparks
simulating lightning. Their experiment was able to produce amino acids.
○ Bob Hazen’s pressure bomb experiment consisted of few milligrams of water, pyruvate and a
powder that produces carbon dioxide. His experiment showed that the basic molecule of life
could have been formed not only by lightning storms but in other places such as volcanoes
and hydrothermal vents
○ Clays’ structure (especially its extensive surface area) may had served as area (and source of
the ingredients) where chemical reaction took place for the early building blocks of life.
○ When life produced oxygen and increased its concentration, the oxygen reacted with iron and
other elements forming new minerals that form rocks.