The History of the Earth Timeline

By OscarH
  • 1 CE

    Sun is born

    At the beginning (4.6 billion years ago), we believe that everything started as a gas cloud that moved around the galaxy. A star nearby exploded, which sent a shock-wave throughout. That ripple, caused the gas to gravitationally collapse, forming the sun and a protoplanetary disk around it.
  • 2

    Moon is Formed

    At about 60 million years int this solar system, scientists believe that the moon is formed. The theory is, a Mars sized rock named Theia crashes into Earth, and a massive debris falls off of Earth. This hot molten goop quickly shapes into a planet, and stays around the orbit of Earth, which is the moon.
  • 2

    Primary Accretion Stage

    During the first 50 million years of the solar system, the dust around the sun collides with each other, creating little clumps. This is called the primary accretion stage, and by the end of it, a kilometer sized rock is enough to accrete (to gather). The outer part of the solar system is becoming much bigger, and it’s much colder out there, which means that when the dust hits each other it sticks together easier, which means it’s growing much faster then the inside of the solar system.
  • 3

    Giant Impact Stage

    This stage is when much larger objects are colliding with each other, and the planetesimals are really beginning to form and become the planets that we know today. At this time, there are about 4 rocky planets in the interior, 2 gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and 2 ice giants, (Uranus and Neptune).
  • Period: 4 to 12

    Late Accretion Stage

    At this point in time, there are Pluto like objects that are constantly crashing into the Earth and into the other planets, and depositing metal. Metal, which is generally a heavy element, sinks towards the center, but in a late accretion stage, if something hits the Earth, metal can deposit. Most of the metals that we find today are because of these rocks that crashed into the Earth, which allows us to find these metals.
  • Period: 12 to 32

    Late Heavy Bombardment

    There is a theory that lots of violence occurred during this time, that Jupiter and Saturn migrated their way towards the inner planets, clearing out lots of assorted rocks and objects, before finally migrating their way back out. During this period of time, there is a speculation that comets containing water might have hit the Earth, which explains the existence of water, on Earth.
  • 38

    Earth Forms Features (Layered Core, Mantle Crust, Atmosphere, Magnetic Field)

    Earth represented a magma blob, and somehow manged to become even hotter. It began to melt, with the lighter materials rising to the top and the heavier materials falling down to the bottom. Some elements even evaporated due to the heat. This transformation meant that Earth's layered core, mantle crust and even atmosphere was able to form, as well as Earth's magnetic field. Without them, Earth would be blasted with harmful rays from the sun, which would destroy humans, essentially.
  • 38

    Earth Cools and Features Form

    The heat from the Earth begins to try and escape the Earth. However, this backfires, and the radioactive elements inside of Earth begin to heat it up even more. This makes Earth begin to spin, creating the first magnetic fields.
  • 39

    Climate Change and Water

    There aren't many theories on how the climate of Earth changed to become much more relaxed, allowing life to thrive and survive. However, somehow it did, with the heat eventually escaping planet Earth, cooling it down significantly. Once that occurred, the Earth resembled more of a rocky planet, allowing water vapor to condense, which created the Earth's seas, and allowed life to flourish at it's best.
  • 41

    Life is Born (theory)

    Despite the Earth now having many of core features, such as the atmosphere, magnetic fields and the moon, life is still trying to form. Some scientists speculate that certain collisions with meteorites could have potentially sparked the building blocks of life, and created DNA. Earth's conditions at the time are still hellish, represented with lots of volcanic activity, lava and heat.