How and when did the Earth produce its core, mantle and continental crust?
It has been known for well over a century now that the Earth’s core, mantle and the crust make up the basic structure of the Earth. However, there is some controversy over how and when the Earth produced its core, mantle and crust. In this essay, I will first discuss about the formation of the Early Earth and its Moon, then about the methods used to pinpoint the age of the Earth. Other than that, I will also expand on core and mantle formation, as well as the eventual production of the continental crust.
THE BIRTH OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM & HEATING OF EARLY EARTH
Firstly, to deduce how the Earth came to form the structures we know today in modern Earth, we must go back
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FORMATION OF THE MOON
Many believe that while Early Earth was undergoing accretion, it had a massive collision with a large body- as huge as the size of Mars (see Fig. 2.). This collision produced a shower of debris around the Earth and thrusted it into space (Grotzinger and Jordan, 2010). “According to this theory, the Earth reformed as a boy with an outer molten layer hundreds of kilometres thick- a magma ocean.” (Grotzinger and Jordan, 2010). Marshak (2007) deduced that the Moon was formed from the accretion of the debris floating around the Earth. He also suggested that the Moon’s composition resembles that of the mantle because of the way the Mars-sized body collided with the Earth. From this, we can assume that when the collision happened- it did not disturb the Earth’s iron-nickel core that was already formed. The formation of the Moon must have happened 4.51 billion years ago- between the early stages of the accretion of the Earth which was 4.56 billion years ago,) and “the formation of the oldest Moon rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts (4.47 billion years ago,)” (Grotzinger and Jordan, 2010).
Fig. 2. The formation of the Moon due to an off-centre collision of a Mars sized body (Freedman and Kaufmann, 2009) p.249
THE AGE OF THE EARTH
Before the discovery of radiometric methods to determine the age of the Earth, the first few attempts were off by thousands of millions
Scientists have found that the Earth was formed about 4.6 billion years ago by collisions in the giant disc-shaped cloud of material that also formed the Sun. As gravity slowly gathered this gas and dust together into clumps, it became asteroids and small early planets called planetesimals. These objects collided repeatedly and gradually got bigger, building up the planets in the Solar System. Although scientists are very close to answering the question, they still continue to search for the exact answer to how the Earth was created. With all the evidence presented, it is hard to refute from scientific theories. This becomes cumbersome to many religions because in their eyes God has always been the creator of the Earth.
The young earth and old earth was not always a debated topic. Before the 18th century not many people believed in an old earth, the majority of people believed that it was about 6,000 years old. But during the 1700s, people began to challenge the age of the earth. Three of the many men who advanced the theory
Until the early 1900's, scientists used several methods of measurement in their efforts to determine the age of the Earth. They studied sedimentation and erosion, stratification (with fossil evidence), measured the salinity of the oceans, and used thermodynamics to determine loss of heat since the Earth's beginning. Each of these approaches yielded estimates that the Earth was anywhere from 24 to 100 million years old.
| |the use of chemical testing such|dating and radioactivity have |determine which time period it |
Although this did not seem correct since the theory was not able to prove why different stars contained different amounts of elements. Kean then transitions into planets, explaining that the planet Jupiter is a failed star making it contain certain elements that other planets did not contain. Towards the end, the author discusses scientist Clair Patterson’s research on finding how old Earth was using meteors, uranium decay, and lead. Ch.
Major Geological Event: The Earth was formed by gravity pulling debris into a swirling mass of rock, radioactive decay and rock impacts generated large amounts of heat melting the planets together. Gravity allowed it to gain the spherical shape it has. Materials in higher density formed the core (Iron, Nickel) while materials in lower density became the mantle and crust. Tectonic plates moving around so much made Volcanoes and the gasses released slowly formed the atmosphere. First signs of life increased the oxygen content, and in turn caused Oceans to form from the rain.
Because science does not have an omniscient back-up source, any lack of explanation for current phenomenon is easily construed as a weakness to a scientifically unsophisticated audience, placing the burden of proof unfairly at the feet of science. Despite these tactics, a thorough explanation of current scientific understanding eliminates any question of doubt about the age of the Earth, and can directly combat what Young-Earthers consider their strongest claims.
There are many different theories about how the moon was formed. People believe different things. I believe one is more reliable than all the others. I think the Big impact theory is the most trustworthy. The Big Impact theory has many different pieces of evidence behind it. The other ones i could barely find any.
“The early Earth was probably partially or largely molten” (The Solar Nebula. N.d). Over time the earth cooled and the crust was formed. “Much continental crust, the most silica rich and least dense kind, has been produced by 2.5 billion years” (The Solar Nebula. N.d). Over a period of time and a series of volcanic eruptions water vapor was thrown into the atmosphere and eventually condensed to form the oceans. From a spinning cloud of dust the evolutionary process began and the Earth that is inhabited today came into existence according to the nebular hypothesis.
L. Vardiman, A.A. Snelling and E.F. Chaffin (Eds.), Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, Institute for Creation Research, Santee, California, and Creation Research Society, St. Joseph, Missouri, 2000.
APSC 151 MIDTERM FALL 2017 1) Compared to the age of the Universe of about 14 billion years, the currently accepted age of Earth is about ________ years as determined by using radioactivity for dating rocks and minerals. A) 4.6 thousand B) 4.6 billion C) 5.4 million D) 13.7 billion 2) The ________ division of the geologic time scale is an era of the Phanerozoic Eon. A) Paleocene B) Paleozoic C) Permian D) Proterozoic 3) The Earth's core was formed from ________. A) a massive nickel iron asteroid that was the nucleus upon which Earth condensed B) high density radioactive carbon C) the left over nickel and iron that would not fit into the earlier formed crust and mantle D) molten iron and nickel that
In 1975, two scientists by the name of Dr. William K. Hartmann and Dr. Donald R. Davis, came up with a groundbreaking new theory on how the moon was created. Their theory stated “At the time Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, other smaller planetary bodies were also growing. One of these hit earth late in Earth 's growth process, blowing out rocky debris. A fraction of that debris went into orbit around the Earth and aggregated into the moon” (Hartmann & Herres 1). This theory is known as the Giant Impact Theory and is the accepted theory in the scientific community of how the moon was created. Even though this theory is accepted by most, there are still some people who don’t hold this theory to be true. I agree with Davis and Hartmann’s Giant Impact Theory that a great collision occurred and created the moon. The Giant Impact Theory is supported by the lack of iron on the moon, the moon rocks from the Apollo missions, and its acceptance in the scientific community.
In 1820 another French man named James Fourier took the next step in estimating the Earth’s age. He accounted for the fact that the Earth is still hot in its core and using mathematical techniques that he developed and we still use today for time-varying phenomena, came up with a number too staggering foe him to write down. He did however leave us his equations and it is easy to plug in the same numbers and get the answer that he could not say, which comes out to be 100 million years. (Gribbin, 16)
The current theory that is adopted is called the "impact theory", and it states that a large celestial body named Theia - probably the size of Mars - collided with our planet tangentially, dislocating a part of Earth with it. It was this grouping of matter that later formed the Moon. However, there are two questions that this theory must answer: why doesn't the Moon hold the same heavy metals as the ones contained on Earth if the former was
In the beginning, impacts of very large objects were very common, some as big as Mars or half the diameter of Earth. Collision of large bodies orbiting Earth played a role in its initial tilt of spin axis, the length of its day, direction of spin, and the thermal state of the interior. This violent bombardment continued for 3.9 billion years. Final composition of Earth had several crucial structural effects. Enough metal was present early on to allow formation of an iron and nickel rich core that is partially liquid. This enables a magnetic field that deflects some harmful radiation from reaching the surface. Enough radioactive elements are also present in the core to maintain long term heating which drives plate tectonics. At 4.5 billion years ago, Earth separated into different layers: an inner core (made of iron and nickel), a land layer of lower density material, and an early atmosphere of carbon dioxide and steam. At 3.9 billion years ago, surface temperatures dropped to a range where liquid water could be maintained. Liquid water makes up approximately 75% of the planet's surface today which is roughly what it was then. The most important requirement for life as we know it is the presence of liquid water. This is the one substance that can serve as a universal solvent - that is, it can dissolve and transport minerals and