Claims that the Earth’s surface was once hot enough to melt rock and was under a constant barrage of asteroids may have been overstated.
Claims that the Earth’s surface was once hot enough to melt rock and was under a constant barrage of asteroids may have been overstated.
Some geologists now say that even early on, our planet looked much like it does today, oceans, continents, and all.
Previous speculations about the first 500 million years of Earth’s existence were based on the absence of rock samples from that time.
Scientists reasoned that the lack of such material was a result of it having been destroyed by hostile environmental conditions.
In recent years the discovery of zircon crystals embedded in sandstone has influenced a change of opinion among some.
The crystals date back about 4 billion years and studying the conditions influential in their formation has led to a new theory.
Surface temperatures are believed to have cooled at times and allowed for the formation of large bodies of surface water and a climate not unlike the current one.
Of course, not everybody is buying into the full extent of that conclusion.
Many say that the findings just mean that while young Earth was not as bad as once thought, it was still plenty hellish.
