Exploratour - Evolution of the Solar System


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This page marks the beginning of section 2 of the tour, but it also marks the end of the tour for now. Come back later for more on the continuing evolution of the solar system.

The beginning of the solar system was in the shrinking of the nebula to form the proto-sun, the forming of planetismals to sweep up smaller rocks until a planet is formed, comets bringing water to the inner planets, these planets turning inside-out and separating into layers, and the sun entering its T-Tauri phase. Once the T-Tauri phase was complete, and the solar system was swept clean of material left over from the solar nebula, the solar system was officially "born". Now the Earths geologic "clock" starts to run. The first age of the Earth's history is called the Archean age. The Archean age started at this time.

Earth's surface was very hot and was still cooling. This means that there was no ocean on the Earth. We don't know for sure, but the rocks were probably all igneous rocks because they came out of volcanoes. Whatever the atmosphere there was prior to this time, at this point in history, the atmosphere of Earth began to change.

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Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA