There are some other details here that we will
get into later in the course. Here is just a
list of some other facts of the early Earth:
--The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
--There was an initial primitive atmosphere, possibly
including H, CO2, S, and some other nasty gases.
--There were lots of asteroids and comets constantly
impacting the Earth in the last stages of Solar
System formation. Some of these impactors (which
we might call meteorites today) had interesting
chemical make-ups....
--There was likely a shallow ocean that covered
much of the planet's surface.
--The young Sun was cooler than the present
Sun, but had a higher ultraviolet flux.