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Origins
How the Earth and other planets formed
The Solar System is composed of a set of radically different types of planets and moons—
from the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune to the rocky inner planets. Centuries of
studying Earth, its neighboring planets, and meteorites have enabled the development of models of
the birth of the Solar System. Astronomical observations from increasingly powerful telescopes
have added a new dimension to these models, as have studies of asteroids, comets, and other
planets via spacecraft, as well as geochemical studies of stardust and meteorites.
While it is generally agreed that the Sun and planets all coalesced out of the same nebular
cloud, little is known about how Earth obtained its particular chemical composition, or why the
other planets ended up so different from Earth and from each other. For example, why has Earth,
unlike every other planet, retained the unique properties—such as the presence of water—that
allow it to support life? New measurements of Solar System bodies and extrasolar planets and
objects, will further advance understanding of the origin of Earth and the Solar System.
2. What happened during Earth’s “dark age” and in what form did life first appear? The origin of
life is one of the most intriguing, difficult, and
(the first 500 million years) ?
enduring questions in science.
It is now believed that during Earth’s formation,
Scientists have toiled to create life from sparks
a Mars-sized planet collided with it, creating a huge
and gasses in the laboratory to illuminate how life first
cloud of debris that became Earth’s Moon and
formed in Earth’s early conditions. But even pinning
releasing so much heat that the entire planet melted.
down what those early conditions were remains an
But little is known about how the resulting molten rock
elusive goal. From what materials did life originate?
evolved during the planet’s infancy into the Earth we
Did life, as Darwin speculated, originate in a “warm
know today. The first 500 million years of Earth’s
little pond,” perhaps a tidal pool repeatedly dried and
existence, known as the Hadean Eon, is a critical
refreshed? Or might life be rooted among
missing link in understanding how the planet’s
hydrothermal vents? Could life’s origins even lie
atmosphere, oceans, and differentiated layers of core,
beyond Earth?
mantle, and outer crust developed. Scientists have
Developing an accurate picture of the physical
almost no idea how fast the surface environment
environments and the chemical building blocks
evolved, how the transition took place, or when
available to early life is a critical Earth science
conditions became hospitable enough to support life.
challenge. Clues to shed light on these mysteries stem
Some clues from Earth’s oldest minerals
largely from investigations of Earth’s ancient rocks
(zircons), as well as from Earth’s Moon and other
and minerals—the only remaining evidence of the time
planets are allowing a clearer picture of the Hadean
when Earth’s life first emerged.
Eon to gradually emerge. The future is certain to
provide additional breakthroughs. The amount of Earth’s Interior
information that can be extracted from even the tiniest
samples of old rocks and minerals is increasing rapidly, 4. How does Earth’s interior work, and how does
and with concerted effort, it is expected that many it affect the surface?
more ancient rocks and mineral samples will be found. As planets age and cool off, their internal and
3. How did life begin? surface processes gradually change. Manifestations of
changes within Earth’s interior—such as the
In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin
development of mountains and volcanoes—have a
(1859) hypothesized that new species arise by the
huge influence on the nature of Earth’s surface and
modification of existing ones—that the raw material of
atmosphere.
life is life. But somehow and somewhere, the tree of
Scientists know that much of the rock in the
life had to take root from nonliving precursors. When,
Earth’s mantle (the thick layer between the core and
where,
crust), which is under extreme pressure and very high
temperature, behaves like a viscous liquid. This vast
interior, however, is largely inaccessible to direct
study. For over a century, seismic wave, geomagnetic,
and gravity measurements made at the surface have
been improving understanding of Earth’s internal
structure. Despite continuing advances, however,
scientists are only beginning to explore the connections
between Earth’s core, magnetic field, mantle, and
surface and to investigate why Earth differs from other
planets, or how it may change in the future.
5. Why does Earth have plate tectonics and
continents?
A major focus of Earth science has been on
deciphering the nature of the continents—the features
that make Earth habitable for land-dwelling life. How
and when did the continents form? How have they
Stromatolites, like this one from Siberia, provide clues changed? Why do the Atlantic coastlines of South
America and Africa look like pieces of a puzzle?
about the emergence of life on Earth. These patterned rock
Plate tectonics—the description of Earth’s
formations were built by the trapping and building
outermost layers in terms of a small number of large
of sediment particles by Earth’s early microbial
communities.
The high pressures and temperatures of
Earth’s interior, the enormous size of the planet
and its structures, the long expanse of geological
time, and the vast diversity of materials present
challenges to studying Earth materials.
Breakthroughs in this area are now at hand,
however; new analytical tools and advanced
computing capabilities are improving the study
and simulation of Earth materials at the atomic
level and promise to improve predictions of how
these material properties will affect planetary
processes.