9.1.2

The Earth's Early Atmosphere

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The Earth's Early Atmosphere

The Earth was formed roughly 4.6 billion years ago. We don't have much evidence from that long ago, but the common view (consensus view) among scientists is:

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Age of the volcanoes

  • Highly active volcanoes were littered across the Earth's surface for the first billion years of its existence.
  • The frequent eruptions of these volcanoes resulted in the release of lots of carbon dioxide (as well as smaller amounts of gases such as water vapour, methane, ammonia and nitrogen).
  • Scientists think carbon dioxide dominated the early atmosphere in a similar way to modern-day Mars.
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Reduction of carbon dioxide levels

  • Levels of atmospheric nitrogen accumulated steadily.
  • The oceans were formed as a result of the water vapour condensing.
    • The formation of the oceans caused a significant reduction in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
    • Carbonate precipitates were produced by reactions between the dissolved carbon dioxide and seawater. These precipitates were deposited as sediment.

Jump to other topics

1Atomic Structure

2Chemical Bonding

3Quantitative Chemistry

4Chemical Changes

5Energy Changes

6The Rate & Extent of Chemical Change

7Organic Chemistry

8Chemical Analysis

9Chemistry of the Atmosphere

10Using Resources

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