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The Moon formed soon afterwards, possibly as a result of the impact of a large planetoid with the Earth. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] More recent potassium isotopic studies suggest that the Moon was formed by a smaller, high-energy, high-angular-momentum giant impact cleaving off a significant portion of the Earth. [ 14 ]
c. 4,533 Ma – Hadean Eon, Precambrian Supereon and unofficial Cryptic era start as the Earth–Moon system forms, possibly as a result of a glancing collision between proto-Earth and the hypothetical protoplanet Theia (the Earth was considerably smaller than now, before this impact). This impact vaporized a large amount of the crust, and sent ...
The first eon in Earth's history, the Hadean, begins with the Earth's formation and is followed by the Archean eon at 3.8 Ga. [2]: 145 The oldest rocks found on Earth date to about 4.0 Ga, and the oldest detrital zircon crystals in rocks to about 4.4 Ga, [34] [35] [36] soon after the formation of the Earth's crust and the Earth itself.
The Earth phase, Terra phase, terrestrial phase, or phase of Earth, is the shape of the directly sunlit portion of Earth as viewed from the Moon (or elsewhere extraterrestrially). From the Moon, the Earth phases gradually and cyclically change over the period of a synodic month (about 29.53 days), as the orbital positions of the Moon around ...
The geologic time scale, proportionally represented as a log-spiral with some major events in Earth's history. A megaannus (Ma) represents one million (10 6) years.. The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth.
One of the most important events of the Proterozoic was the accumulation of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. Though oxygen is believed to have been released by photosynthesis as far back as the Archean Eon, it could not build up to any significant degree until mineral sinks of unoxidized sulfur and iron had been exhausted. Until roughly 2.3 ...
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Conjectured illustration of the scorched Earth after the Sun has entered the red giant phase, about 5–7 billion years in the future. Earth's expected long-term future is tied to that of the Sun. Over the next 1.1 billion years, solar luminosity will increase by 10%, and over the next 3.5 billion years by 40%. [78]