The Earth is estimated to have emerged approximately 4.6 billion years ago. For a long time, our planet remained an inhospitable environment, consisting of about 80% carbon dioxide, 10% methane, 5% carbon monoxide and 5% nitrogen gas. Oxygen was absent or very scarce, since its presence would cause the oxidation and destruction of the first organic compounds – which did not happen, later allowing the appearance of life.
→ Temperature on the planet
For many years, there was extreme heat on our planet. This happened because of the many volcanic activitieswhich caused the release of gases and lava. The Earth’s atmosphere and surface were characterized by absence of the ozone layer, by the effects of ultraviolet rays and electrical discharges and by the bombardment of bodies from space. About this, it is even known that Most of the carbon and water molecules in existence today came from asteroids that fell to Earth during this period..
Don’t stop now… There’s more after the publicity 😉
This water allowed, over a long time, the cooling of the earth’s surface in cyclical and successive processes of evaporation, condensation and precipitation. After cooling, these molecules accumulated in the deepest depressions on the planet and thus formed the primitive oceans.
→ Emergence of primitive life forms
The water molecules, added to other substances available in the environment and dragged by the rains to these depressions, later provided the emergence of primitive forms of life. While many of these substances would have coming from space, others were formed here thanks to the energy provided by electrical discharges and radiation.
A scientist who greatly contributed to the understanding of some of these aspects of the planet was Stanley Lloyd Myller.. In 1953, he created a device that simulated possible conditions on early Earth.. As a final result of this experiment, there was the formation of organic molecules from simple chemical elements.
By Mariana Araguaia
Graduated in Biology