The origin of the Earth is almost as enigmatic as the beginning of life in this world. It is the only rocky body known so far, whose ecosystem houses life and everything related to it.
The Earth with the ideal conditions for the human being and evolution, continue to be part of it for millennia. From its atmosphere, to its rich surface and passing through an indispensable element such as water, it is the largest planet.
According to certain hypotheses, it is believed that the Earth formed more than 4.000 million years ago, almost on a par with the sun and the moon. It is one of the longest-lived elements in the Solar System, whose transformation occurred at the hands of certain collision-type events. But, in itself, how was the Earth formed?
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The dawn of the terrestrial planet. What is the origin of the Earth exactly?
All theories indicate that the Earth was formed at the same time as the Solar System, along with other elements. That is, planets, satellites, asteroids and more, they owe their beginning to the same specific premise.
Basically, the origin of the Earth is determined by an extraordinary mixture of different materials. Among them, dust, gas and rocks stand out, plus the added spice of the influence of different supernovae.
In that sense, the beginnings of the Earth included within the nebular hypothesis, postulated by Immanuel Kant in the first instance. Time after the Big Bang, a powerful accumulation of the elements already named, generated the so-called protosolar cloudiness.
Source: Google
At a certain point in time, the elements that made up this object separated from it gravitationally. Over the centuries, this type of material cooled and condensed, initially forming the sun.
Next, the rest of the materials, such as rock fragments or others, they progressively accumulated to form protoplanetary disks. Each one of these discs gradually compacted and acquired a specific orbit.
In the case of the origin of the Earth, it created a planet that, today, is the largest of the planets of the inner branch of the Solar System. Since its creation, the planet has undergone a series of changes associated with evolution, to the point of harboring life.
In turn, it is believed that important elements of the planet, such as water, arrived from other celestial bodies derived from cloudiness. These, better known as asteroids, together with the satellites, were also created thanks to the same principle.
What happened after the origin of the Earth? How has the planet behaved since then?
As the sun exerted its gravitational influence on the newly formed Solar System, the protoplanetary disks created the planets. As a consequence, the planet Earth managed to emerge practically from nothing, after a series of concatenated events.
From then on, the origin of the Earth brought with it another series of events that occurred nearby. First of all, the appearance of the planet at that time, it was surly and reddish due to its high temperatures.
The constant collisions that gave rise to its creation caused its surface to reach an exorbitantly high temperature. Therefore, the Earth was not what it is today, not even the continents, water and atmosphere existed.
Formation of the Earth's atmosphere
Because the Earth's surface was supported by an extremely hot core, it was prone to eruptions. In addition, since at that time there was no protective atmosphere, the constant impact of meteorites and asteroids worsened the picture.
Indeed, to say that the origin of the Earth was a success, first, it had to happen by the long process of formation of its atmosphere. As these collisions and magmatic eruptions occurred, a constant release of noble gases was generated.
Each and every one of them accumulated on the earth's surface, forming the first primitive atmosphere. However, its elements were far from compatible with life, since they were mainly sulfur, carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
Cooling of the planet, appearance of water and the stratification of the atmosphere
A remarkable aspect of the origin of the Earth is that it seems that nothing happened by chance. Many of the meteorites and asteroids that hit at that moment contained water that, in contact with the heat of the surface, formed steam.
The water vapor condensed together with the other gases previously named, generating a cooling in the earth's crust. Over the millennia, the surface solidified, producing a stable crust.
In turn, the condensation process was such that the first torrential rains staged it. In fact, it is believed that millions of years ago, the Earth went through a period of constant flooding, which gave rise to the oceans.
So how was the origin of life on Earth unleashed?
At the end of this combination of named factors, little by little the scenario evolved until life was created. The crust originated the great pangea continent (separated millions of years later), as well as the initial process of consolidation of the atmosphere.
For the origin of life on Earth, there are those who claim that it is due to the influence of extraterrestrial material. However, the most accepted today is that its beginnings took place on the same planet.
Source: OkDiario
After cooling the planet and with the fall of the rains, the carbon dioxide precipitated in them, reacted with the elements of the crust. Thus, these chemical reactions resulted in carbonates.
This premise, according to different studies, originated the salts and the entire composition that revolves around the seabed. In turn, it is believed that it fostered the ideal environment for the first marine bacteria, living organisms, to develop.
Thanks to bacteria and other microorganisms, gave rise to the precious process of photosynthesis. Through it, the creation of oxygen served as the last brick to finish building an ideal atmosphere. Under his protection and another series of subsequent reactions, the origin of life on Earth, little by little, came together.