EARTH SCIENCE

Chapter 10 Earth’s History

10.1 Formation of the Sun and Planets

Where are stars born? Are stars being born
right now?
Stars are born in clouds like the one in the
picture. Gravity pulls material together. When it
is extremely dense, it begins nuclear fusion.
That is, it becomes a star. We can see places
where stars are being born right now. Of
course, it takes light a long time to travel to us.
So what we see right now may have happened
many millions or even billions of years ago.

Formation of the Solar System

Our solar system began about 5 billion years ago. The Sun, planets, and
other solar system objects all formed at about the same time. The leading
hypothesis for how they formed is called the nebular hypothesis.

The Solar Nebula

The Sun and planets formed from a giant cloud of gas and dust. This was
the solar nebula. The cloud contracted and began to spin. As it contracted,
its temperature and pressure increased. The cloud spun faster and formed
into a disk. Scientists think the solar system at that time looked like these
disk-shaped objects in the Orion Nebula. New stars are forming in the Orion
Nebula today.

Solar System Bodies Form

Gravity pulled a lot of material to the center of the cloud. Temperatures and
pressures at the center of the cloud were extreme. It was so hot that
nuclear fusion reactions began. A star was born—the Sun. In these
reactions, hydrogen fuses to make helium. Extreme amounts of energy are
released.
Meanwhile, the outer parts of the disk were cooling off. Matter condensed
from the cloud. Small pieces of dust started clumping together. These
clumps collided and combined with other clumps. Gravity brought more
clumps together to make larger bodies. Gravity at the center of the disk
attracted rock and metal. Lighter material remained farther out in the disk.
Eventually, these small bodies grew to become the planets and moons that
we find in our solar system today.

The Planets
Since gravity pulled the heavy material inward, the inner planets—Mercury,
Venus, Earth, and Mars—are made of rock and metal. The outer planets—
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—condensed farther from the Sun
(Figure
below).
They are
made
from
lighter
materials
such as

hydrogen, helium, water, ammonia, and methane. Out by jupiter and

beyond, where it’s very cold, these materials form solid particles. Dwarf
plants, comets, and asteroids formed too.
The Sun and planets (note that this image is old enough to include Pluto, which is no longer considered one of the
planets).

The nebular hypothesis explains the basic features of the solar system:
 The orbits of the planets lie in nearly the same plane. The Sun is at
the center.
 The planets revolve in the same
direction.
 The planets mostly rotate in the same
direction.
 The axes of rotation of the planets are
mostly nearly perpendicular to the
orbital plane.
 The oldest Moon rocks are 4.5 billion
years old.

The center of the nebula became a star, our Sun!

Summary
 A giant cloud of dust and gas is called a nebula. A nebula collapsed to
form the solar system. This is the nebular hypothesis.
 When hydrogen began to fuse into helium, the Sun became a star.
 Planets nearer the Sun are formed of denser metal and rocks. Planets
farther out are lighter and gaseous.

10.2 Formation of Earth

What was early Earth like?
Earth was not always the planet it is today. In its earliest days, Earth was
scorching hot. It did not have an atmosphere or water. If life originated
early on, it was wiped out by the terrible conditions.
Formation of Earth and Moon
Material at similar distances from the Sun
collided together to form each of the planets.
Earth grew from material in its part of space.
The Moon’s origin is completely different from
Earth’s.
Earth Forms
Earth formed like the other planets. Different
materials in its region of space collided.
Eventually, the material made a planet. All of
the collisions caused Earth to heat up. Rock and
metal melted. The molten material separated
into layers. Gravity pulled the denser material into the center. The lighter
elements rose to the surface (Figure below). Because the material
separated, Earth’s core is made mostly of iron. Earth’s crust is made mostly
of lighter materials. In between the crust and the core is Earth’s mantle,
made of solid rock.
Earth’s Layer
Summary
 Earth grew from material that collided in its part of space.
 The material melted and gravity separated it into layers.
 An enormous asteroid struck Earth. The material flew into orbit and
came together to form the Moon.

10.3 Formation of the Moon

Why is this called the Genesis Rock?
The Genesis Rock was brought from the Moon to Earth by Apollo 15
astronauts. The rock is only 100 million years younger than the solar system
and comes from the Moon's original crust.

How the Moon Formed

One of the most unique features of planet Earth is
its large Moon. Unlike the only other natural
satellites orbiting an inner planet, those of Mars,
the Moon is not a captured asteroid.
Understanding the Moon’s birth and early history
reveals a great deal about Earth’s early days.
 Features of the Moon
To determine how the Moon formed, scientists
had to account for several lines of evidence:

The Moon is large; not much smaller than the

smallest planet, Mercury.
Earth and Moon are very similar in composition.
Moon’s surface is 4.5 billion years old, about the same as the age of the
solar system.
For a body its size and distance from the Sun, the Moon has very little core;
Earth has a fairly large core.
The oxygen isotope ratios of Earth and Moon indicate that they originated
in the same part of the solar system.
Earth has a faster spin than it should have for a planet of its size and
distance from the Sun.
Can you devise a “birth story” for the Moon that takes all of these bits of
data into account?
Moon's Birth Story
Astronomers have carried out computer simulations that are consistent with
these facts and have detailed a birth story for the Moon. A little more than
4.5 billion years ago, roughly 70 million years after Earth formed, planetary
bodies were being pummeled by asteroids and planetoids of all kinds. Earth
was struck by a Mars-sized asteroid (Figure below).
An artist’s depiction of the impact that produced the Moon.

The tremendous energy from the impact melted both bodies. The molten
material mixed up. The dense metals remained on Earth but some of the
molten, rocky material was flung into an orbit around Earth. It eventually
accreted into a single body, the Moon. Since both planetary bodies were
molten, material could differentiate out of the magma ocean into core,
mantle, and crust as they cooled. Earth’s fast spin is from energy imparted
to it by the impact.

Moon Rocks
Lunar rocks reveal an enormous amount about Earth’s early days. The
Genesis Rock, with a date of 4.5 billion years, is only about 100 million
years younger than the solar system (see opening image). The rock is a
piece of the Moon’s anorthosite crust, which was the original crust. Why do
you think Moon rocks contain information that is not available from Earth’s
own materials?
Can you find how all of the evidence presented in the bullet points above is
present in the Moon’s birth story?
Summary
 The scientific explanation for how the Moon formed must take into
account its features, such as its large size, internal structure,
chemical composition, and spin.
 Earth was struck by a giant asteroid that melted the planet and
asteroid and flung material into orbit where it coalesced and cooled to
become the Moon.
 Moon's original crust is anorthosite, a feldspar-rich, light rock.

10.4 Early Atmosphere and Oceans

What did Earth look like at first?

The earliest Earth did not have an atmosphere or free water. The planet
was far too hot for gases and water to collect. The atmosphere and oceans
that we see today evolved over time. The gases came from volcanic
eruptions and from comets.
Formation of the Atmosphere and Oceans
An atmosphere is the gases that surround a planet. The early Earth had no
atmosphere. Conditions were so hot that gases were not stable.

Earth's First Atmosphere

Earth’s first atmosphere
was different from the
current one. The gases
came from two sources.
Volcanoes spewed gases
into the air. Comets
carried in ices from outer space. These ices warmed and became gases.
Nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and water vapor, or water in gas form,
were in the first atmosphere (Figure below). Take a look at the list of gases.
What's missing? The early atmosphere had almost no oxygen.
Gases from Earth’s interior came through volcanoes and into the atmosphere.

The Early Oceans

Earth’s atmosphere slowly cooled. Once it was cooler, water vapor could
condense. It changed back to its liquid form. Liquid water could fall to
Earth’s surface as rain. Over millions of years water collected to form the
oceans. Water began to cycle on Earth as water evaporated from the oceans
and returned again as rainfall.

Streams carry dissolved minerals. These ions make the oceans salty. Marine
sedimentary rocks are found that are four billion years old. The first oceans
could have formed as early as 4.2 to 4.4 billion
years ago!

The Later Atmosphere

Eventually plants evolved. Plants produce oxygen
as a product of photosynthesis. Oxygen spread
around the planet about 2.5 billion years ago.
Many organisms died off because they could not handle the oxygen. But this
development was extremely important for other life. Animals need oxygen to
breathe. If photosynthesis had not evolved there would be no animals.

Oxygen is needed to make ozone. Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen

ions. Ozone in the upper atmosphere blocks harmful solar radiation from
reaching the surface. Without oxygen, life on Earth would have been very
simple.
Summary
 Earth's first atmosphere came from the planet's interior. Gases also
came from asteroids and comets from elsewhere in the solar system.
 There was very little oxygen in the atmosphere until plants evolved.
Oxygen allowed animals to evolve and ozone to form.
 The first oceans formed when water rained out of the atmosphere into
basins.
10.5 Precambrian Continents
When did Earth become a dynamic planet?
Earth was always dynamic! Earth has changed many times over billions of
years. Huge mountains have formed, been destroyed, and been replaced
with new mountains. Continents have moved, split apart, and collided with
each other. Ocean basins have opened up. Life on Earth evolved slowly for
billions of years.

Early Continents
The earliest crust was probably basalt. It may have resembled the current
seafloor. This crust formed before there
were any oceans. More than four billion
years ago, continental crust appeared.
The first continents were very small
compared with those today.
Continents Grow
Continents grow when microcontinents,
or small continents, collide with each
other or with a larger continent.
Oceanic island arcs also collide with continents to make them grow.

Cratons
The earliest continental crust is now found in the ancient cores of
continents, called the cratons. Geologists can learn many things about the
Precambrian by studying the rocks of the cratons.

 Cratons contain felsic igneous rocks, which are remnants of the first
continents.
 Cratonic rocks contain rounded sedimentary grains. Rounded grains
indicate that the minerals eroded from an earlier rock. It also means
that rivers or seas existed.
  One common rock type in the cratons is greenstone, a
metamorphosed volcanic rock (Figure below). Since greenstones are
found today in oceanic trenches, what does the presence of
greenstones mean? These ancient greenstones indicate the presence
of subduction zones.
Ice age glaciers scraped the Canadian Shield down to the 4.28 billion year old greenstone in Northwestern Quebec.

Supercontinents
There are times in Earth history when
all of the continents come together to
form a supercontinent. Supercontinents
come together and then break apart.
Pangaea was the last supercontinent on
Earth, but it was not the first. The
supercontinent before Pangaea is called
Rodinia. Rodinia contained about 75%
of the continental landmass that is
present today. The supercontinent came together about 1.1 billion years
ago. Rodinia was not the first supercontinent either. Scientists think that
three supercontinents came before Rodina, making five so far in Earth
history.

Early Plate Tectonics

Since the early Earth was very hot, mantle convection was very rapid. Plate
tectonics likely moved quickly. The early Earth was an active place with
abundant volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The remnants of these early
rocks are now seen in the ancient cores of the continents.
Summary
 The first crust was basalt. It resembled the modern seafloor.
 Microcontinents come together to create continents and
supercontinents.
 Convection on early Earth was faster and so plate tectonics was
faster. Since then, Earth has been cooling.
10.6 Paleozoic Plate Tectonics

Could these mountains have existed in the Paleozoic?

Sure! There have been lots of huge mountain ranges in Earth history. When
continents collide, big mountains grow. The formation of Pangaea created
long large mountain ranges. The mountains that formed then look a lot like
the Himalayas do today.

The Paleozoic Era

The Paleozoic is the earliest era of the Phanerozoic. The Paleozoic was also
the longest era of the Phanerozoic. But the Paleozoic was relatively recent.
It began only 570 million years ago. At the start of the Paleozoic, there was
a supercontinent called Rodinia. The supercontinent broke apart during the
early part of the Paleozoic.

The Phanerozoic is recent history compared with the Precambrian. This is

one reason that the Paleozoic is much better known than the Precambrian.
Another reason is that Paleozoic organisms had hard parts, and they
fossilized better.

Formation of Pangaea
A mountain-building event is called an orogeny. Orogenies take place over
tens or hundreds of millions of years. Continents smash into each other.
Microcontinents and island arcs smash into continents. All of these events
cause mountains to rise.

When Pangaea came together there were orogenies all along the collision

zones. Geologists find much evidence of these orogenies. For example,

Laurentia collided with the Taconic Island Arc during the Taconic Orogeny
(Figure below). The remnants of this mountain range make up the Taconic
Mountains in New York.

The Taconic Orogeny is an example of a collision between a continent and a volcanic island arc.

Laurentia experienced other orogenies as it collided with the northern

continents. The southern continents came together to form Gondwana.
When Laurentia and Gondwana collided to create Pangaea, the
Appalachians rose. Geologists think the Appalachians were once higher
than the Himalayas are now.

Pangaea
Pangaea was the last supercontinent on Earth. Evidence for the existence of
Pangaea was what Alfred Wegener used to create his continental drift
hypothesis. Continental drift is described in the chapter Plate Tectonics.

As the continents move,

the shape of the oceans
changes too. At the time
of Pangaea, most of
Earth’s water was
collected in a huge
ocean. This ocean was
called Panthalassa
(Figure below).
Pangaea was the sole landform 250
million years ago. The rest of the planet
was a huge ocean called Panthalassa,
along with a few smaller seas.

Summary
 The Paleozoic
began with the
supercontinent
Rodinia. The era
ended with the
supercontinent
Pangaea.
 As continents come
together, orogenies build up mountain ranges.
 Pangaea was a giant landmass made of all of the continents around
250 million years ago.

10.7 Paleozoic and Mesozoic Seas

Do you like the beach? If so, the Paleozoic may be for you!
If we were living right now at the time of a marine transgression, there
would be a lot more beach. Surf's up!
Marine Transgressions and
Regressions
Sea level rises and falls.
During the Paleozoic and
Mesozoic, the seas rose over
the continents. This is called a
marine transgression. During
a marine regression, the sea
level retreats. The Paleozoic
had four complete cycles of
marine transgressions and
regressions. The Mesozoic had
two (Figure below).
Six marine transgressions and regressions
have occurred during the Phanerozoic.

What makes sea level rise?

There are two possibilities:
either the land sinks or the
water level rises. Tectonic
processes can cause the land
to sink. Melting glaciers can
cause the water level to rise.
Sea level rises if seafloor
spreading goes faster. The hotter crust is buoyed up and displaces the
water. This causes the ocean basin to become smaller. What could cause
sea level to fall in a marine regression? Land rises up. Glaciers grow.
Seafloor spreading slows down. Just the opposite of what makes sea level
rise!

Geologists think that the Paleozoic marine transgressions and regressions

were the result of the decrease and increase in the size of glaciers covering
the lands.

Rock Facies
Geologists know about marine transgressions and regressions from
sedimentary rocks. These events leave characteristic rock layers known as
sedimentary facies. Sand and other coarse grained rock fragments are
deposited on the beach where the wave energy is high. Offshore in lower
energy environments, fine-grained silt is deposited. Farther offshore in
lower energy waters, carbonate mud that later hardens is deposited. The
rocks that result are sandstone, shale, and limestone. As the sea moves on
or offshore, one rock layer
is on top of the other.
Summary
 Sea level depends on
the relationship of the
water level to the
land.
 Sea level will rise
when glaciers melt.
Sea level will fall
when glaciers grow.
 Facies are characteristic rock layers, such as sandstone, shale,
limestone for a marine transgression. The reverse indicates a marine
regression.

10.8 Mesozoic Plate Tectonics

Why would a supercontinent break up?
A continent is like a giant blanket that traps heat. Heat from the mantle
comes up but cannot escape through the continent. This image shows hot
material beneath New Mexico. The heat is trapped beneath the North
American plate. The hot material is causing rifting to begin. This is known
as the Rio Grande Rift.

Supercontinent Breakup
Why would a supercontinent break up? Remember that Earth's interior is
hot. Heat builds up beneath the supercontinent. This causes the continent
to buoy upward. Continental rifting begins. Basalt lava fills in the rift. This
could lead to seafloor spreading and the formation of a new ocean basin.
This basalt province is where Africa is splitting apart and generating basalt
lava. (Figure below)
In the Afar Region of Ethiopia, Africa is splitting apart. Three plates are pulling away from a central point.

The Breakup of Pangaea

At the end of the Paleozoic, there was one continent and one ocean. Then
Pangaea began to break apart about 180 million years ago. The Panthalassa
Ocean separated into the individual but interconnected oceans that we see
today on Earth.

Continental rifting and then seafloor spreading pushed Africa and South
America. The Atlantic Ocean basin formed in between the continents.
Seafloor spreading continues to enlarge the
Atlantic Ocean (Figure above).

Growth of Continents
The moving continents collided with island arcs
and microcontinents. Mountain ranges grew
near the continents’ edges. The oceanic Farallon
plate subducted beneath western North America
during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous.
This activity produced igneous intrusions and
other structures. The intrusions have since been
uplifted. They are exposed in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains (Figure below).
The snow-covered Sierra Nevada is seen striking SE to NW across the eastern third of the image. The mountain
range is a line of uplifted batholiths from Mesozoic subduction.

Summary
 Continents keep mantle heat
from escaping. This may
eventually lead to
continental rifting.
 Continents grow as
microcontinents or igneous
activity add continental
crust to an existing
continent.
  When a supercontinent breaks apart, new seafloor forms between the
new continental masses.

10.9 Cenozoic Plate Tectonics

How does the Cenozoic end?
We don't know how the Cenozoic ends. We're still in it! The Cenozoic has
been going on for 65 million years. Toward the very end of this time,
humans have evolved. We are now witness to the geology of the Cenozoic.
What came earlier in this era looks a lot like what is going on now.

Cenozoic
The Cenozoic began around 65.5 million years ago. We say that it begins
after the Cretaceous extinction. We are still in the Cenozoic today. The
Cenozoic accounts for only about 1.5% of Earth’s total history. But since it's
the the most recent era, it is the one we know the most about. Much of what
has been discussed elsewhere in this text describes the geology of the
Cenozoic. A few highlights are mentioned here.
Plate Tectonics
The plate tectonics of the Cenozoic are still going on today. Early in the
Cenozoic, blocks of crust uplifted to form the Rocky Mountains. Subduction
off of the Pacific Northwest formed the Cascades volcanic arc. Crust is
being pulled apart to form the Basin and Range province that centers on
Nevada.
Evolution of the San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is where the
Pacific and North American plates meet
(Figure below). How did the San Andreas
Fault form? The Farallon Plate was
subducting beneath the North American
Plate. This began about 30 million years
ago. By 20 million years ago, the Pacific Plate and East Pacific Rise
spreading center had started to subduct. This split the Farallon Plate into
two smaller plates. The plates started a transform motion where the Pacific
and North American plates meet. This formed the San Andreas Fault. The
fault moved inland.
This figure shows the evolution of the San Andreas Fault zone from 30 million years ago (bottom) to present (top).

Most Cenozoic plate tectonic activity involves continents

moving apart. But smaller regions are coming together. Africa collided with
Eurasia to create the Alps. India crashed into Asia to form the Himalayas.

Ice Ages
The Pleistocene
ice ages began
2.6 million
years ago.
Glaciers
advanced and
retreated four
times (Figure
below). During
the retreats,
the climate was
often warmer
than it is today.
Glacial ice at its
maximum during the
Pleistocene

Summary
 During the Cenozoic, Pangaea began to split up.
 Subduction of the Farallon plate has resulted in the formation of the
Rocky Mountains and the San Andreas Fault.
 The Pleistocene was marked by four advances of ice. The remnants of
the last advance of glaciers are found today.