IS EARTH UNIQUE?

List the principal characteristics that make

Earth unique among the planets.
There is only one place in the universe,
as far as we know, that supports life—a
modest-sized planet called Earth that
orbits an average-sized star, the Sun.
EARTH seems to be the
RIGHT PLANET, in the
RIGHT LOCATION, at
the RIGHT TIME.
What are some of the characteristics
that make Earth unique among the
planets?
Consider the following:
 THE RIGHT PLANET
If Earth were considerably larger (more massive), its
force of gravity would be proportionately greater. Like the
giant planets, Earth would have retained a thick, hostile
atmosphere consisting of ammonia and methane, and
possibly hydrogen and helium.
 THE RIGHT PLANET
If Earth were much smaller, oxygen, water vapor,
and other volatiles would escape into space and be
lost forever. Thus, like the Moon and Mercury, both
of which lack atmospheres, Earth would be void of
life.
 THE RIGHT PLANET
If Earth did not have a rigid lithosphere overlaying a weak
asthenosphere, plate tectonics would not operate. The
continental crust (Earth’s “highlands”) would not have
formed without the recycling of plates. Consequently, the
entire planet would likely be covered by an ocean a few
kilometers deep.
 THE RIGHT PLANET
Most surprisingly, perhaps, is the fact that if our planet
did not have a molten metallic core, most of the life
forms on Earth would not exist. Fundamentally, without
the flow of iron in the core, Earth could not support a
magnetic field.
The following scenarios
substantiate earth’s
advantageous position:
 THE RIGHT LOCATION
If Earth were about 10 percent closer to the Sun, our
atmosphere would be more like that of Venus and
consist mainly of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
As a result, Earth’s surface temperature would be too
hot to support higher life-forms.
 THE RIGHT LOCATION

If Earth were about 10 percent farther from the Sun,

the problem would be reversed—it would be too
cold. The oceans would freeze over, and Earth’s
active water cycle would not exist.
Without liquid water, all life would perish.
 THE RIGHT LOCATION
Earth is near a star of modest size. Stars like the Sun have a life
span of roughly 10 billion years. During most of this time, radiant
energy is emitted at a fairly constant level.
Giant stars, on the other hand, consume their nuclear fuel at very
high rates and “burn out” in a few hundred million years.
 The first organisms to
inhabit earth were
extremely primitive and
came into existence roughly
3.8 billion years ago.
 Consider
two of the many
timely Earth-altering
events:
 THE RIGHT TIME
Earth’s atmosphere has developed over time. Earth’s
primitive atmosphere is thought to have been composed
mostly of methane, water vapor, ammonia, and carbon
dioxide—but no free oxygen. Fortunately, microorganisms
evolved that released oxygen into the atmosphere through
the process of photosynthesis.
 THE RIGHT TIME
About 65 million years ago, our planet was struck by an
asteroid 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. This impact
likely caused a mass extinction during which nearly three
quarters of all plant and animal species were obliterated—
including dinosaurs
 BIRTH OF A PLANET
Outline the major stages in the evolution of
Earth, from the Big Bang to the formation
of our planet’s layered internal structure.
 BIRTH OF A PLANET
The universe began about 13.7 billion years ago, with the Big
Bang, when all matter and space came into existence.
Shortly thereafter, the two simplest elements, hydrogen and
helium, formed.
These basic elements were the ingredients for the first star
systems.
 BIRTH OF A PLANET
Several billion years later, our home galaxy, the Milky Way, came
into existence.
It was within a band of stars and nebular debris in an arm of this
spiral galaxy that the Sun and planets took form nearly 4.6 billion
years ago.
FROM THE BIG BANG TO
HEAVY ELEMENTS
 FROM THE BIG BANG TO HEAVY
ELEMENTS
According to the Big Bang theory, the formation of our
planet began about 13.7 billion years ago, with a
cataclysmic explosion that created all matter and
space
 FROM THE BIG BANG TO HEAVY
ELEMENTS
Initially, subatomic particles (protons, neutrons, and
electrons) formed.
Later, as this debris cooled, atoms of hydrogen and
helium, the two lightest elements, began to form.
 FROM THE BIG BANG TO HEAVY
ELEMENTS
Within a few hundred million years, clouds of these
gases condensed and coalesced into stars that
compose the galactic systems we now observe.
 FROM THE BIG BANG TO HEAVY
ELEMENTS
As these gases contracted to become the first stars,
heating triggered the process of nuclear fusion.
Within the interiors of stars, hydrogen nuclei convert to
helium nuclei, releasing enormous amounts of radiant
energy (heat, light, cosmic rays).
 FROM THE BIG BANG TO HEAVY
ELEMENTS
During these cataclysmic supernova events,
exploding stars produce all the elements heavier than
iron and spew them into interstellar space.
It is from such debris that our Sun and solar system
formed.
FROM PLANETESIMALS TO
PROTOPLANETS
 FROM PLANETESIMALS TO
PROTOPLANETS
The solar system, including Earth, formed about
4.6 billion years ago, from the solar nebula, a large rotating
cloud of interstellar dust and gas.
As the solar nebula contracted, most of the matter collected in
the center to create the hot protosun.
 FROM PLANETESIMALS TO
PROTOPLANETS
The remaining materials formed a thick, flattened, rotating disk,
within which matter gradually cooled and condensed into grains
and clumps of icy, rocky, and metallic material.
Repeated collisions resulted in most of the material eventually
collecting into asteroid-sized objects called planetesimals.
 FROM PLANETESIMALS TO
PROTOPLANETS
The composition of planetesimals was largely determined
by their proximity to the protosun.
Therefore, between the present orbits of Mercury and Mars, the
planetesimals were composed mainly of materials with high
melting temperatures—metals and rocky substances.
 FROM PLANETESIMALS TO
PROTOPLANETS
The composition of planetesimals was largely determined
by their proximity to the protosun.
The planetesimals that formed beyond the orbit of Mars, where
temperatures are low, contained high percentages of ices—
water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane—as well as
smaller amounts of rocky and metallic debris.
 FROM PLANETESIMALS TO
PROTOPLANETS
Through repeated collisions and accretion (sticking
together), these planetesimals grew into eight protoplanets and
their moons.
During this process, the same amount of matter was
concentrated into fewer and fewer bodies, each having greater
and greater masses.
EARTH’S EARLY
EVOLUTION
Geologists call this early period of Earth’s history the Hadean,
which began with the formation of Earth about 4.6 billion years
ago and ended roughly 3.8 billion years ago.
The name Hadean is derived from the Greek word Hades,
meaning “the underworld,” referring to the “hellish” conditions on
Earth at the time.
 During this period of intense heating, Earth became
hot enough that iron and nickel began to melt.
Melting produced liquid blobs of heavy metal that sank under
their own weight.
This process occurred rapidly on the scale of geologic
time and produced Earth’s dense iron-rich core.
 During this period of intense heating, Earth became
hot enough that iron and nickel began to melt.
Melting produced liquid blobs of heavy metal that sank under
their own weight.
This process occurred rapidly on the scale of geologic
time and produced Earth’s dense iron-rich core.