The Earth's early atmosphere - Earth's atmosphere - GCSE Chemistry (Single Science) Revision - OCR 21st Century - BBC Bitesize (2024)

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What was the early atmosphere composed of BBC Bitesize? ›

The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists believe that its early atmosphere. The important gases in the atmosphere are nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

The early atmosphere

It is believed that there was intense volcanic activity for the first billion years of the Earth's existence. Its early atmosphere was probably formed from the gases given out by volcanoes. The greatest proportion of volcanic gases are made up of carbon dioxide, water vapour and ammonia.

When Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago from a hot mix of gases and solids, it had almost no atmosphere. The surface was molten. As Earth cooled, an atmosphere formed mainly from gases spewed from volcanoes. It included hydrogen sulfide, methane, and ten to 200 times as much carbon dioxide as today's atmosphere.

The composition of the atmosphere has not always been the same. The Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago, so we have limited evidence about the early atmosphere. Scientists have studied gas bubbles trapped in ancient rocks on Earth and also the atmosphere on other planets and moons.

Ancient sediments and rocks record past changes in atmospheric composition due to chemical reactions with Earth's crust and, in particular, to biochemical processes associated with life. Earth's original atmosphere was rich in methane, ammonia, water vapour, and the noble gas neon, but it lacked free oxygen.

A long time ago, before humans, dinosaurs, plants, or even bacteria, Earth's air had no oxygen. If we could time travel to that period, we would need space suits to breathe. Scientists think the air was mostly made out of volcanic gases like carbon dioxide.

“The amount of oxidation in the ancient micrometeorites suggests that the early atmosphere was very rich in carbon dioxide,” said co-author David Catling, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences.

what was the earths early atmosphere like? had little or no oxygen. it was made of carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen cyanide. what was the earths early ocean like?

One theory suggests that the early atmosphere came from intense volcanic. activity, which released gases that made the early atmosphere very similar to the atmospheres of Mars and Venus today. These atmospheres have: a large amount of carbon dioxide.

They concluded that Earth's early atmosphere contained CH₄, H₂, H₂O, N₂, and NH₃, similar to the gas mixtures used in the Miller–Urey synthesis of organic compounds.

What happened to Earth's earliest atmosphere? ›

Approximately 4.5 billion years ago, scientists believe that Earth collided with a planet the size of Mars. The energy from this catastrophic collision blew Earth's existing atmosphere into space, created our Moon, and caused the entire planet to melt.

So the early atmosphere of the earth according to the standard neo darwinian model had no oxygen, because it took millions of years for the most simple life to begin and that life only used anaerobic fermentation to product energy.

The early atmosphere was mainly carbon dioxide and water vapour. Water vapour condensed to form the oceans. Photosynthesis caused the amount of carbon dioxide to decrease and oxygen to increase.

The Earth's early atmosphere comprised carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapor, as well as a low amount of other substances, such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen cyanide.

In the beginning stages of the Earth's formation, the atmosphere of the Earth mostly contained gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapour. It was devoid of oxygen which was necessary for life to exist.