The present composition of earth’s atmosphere is chiefly contributed by nitrogen and oxygen.
Stages
- The first stage is marked by the loss of primordial atmosphere.
- In the second stage, the hot interior of the earth contributed to the evolution of the atmosphere.
- Finally, the composition of the atmosphere was modified by the living world through the process of photosynthesis.
- The early atmosphere, with hydrogen and helium, is supposed to have been stripped off as a result of the solar winds.
- This happened not only in case of the earth, but also in all the terrestrial planets, which were supposed to have lost their primordial atmosphere through the impact of solar winds.
- During the cooling of the earth, gases and water vapour were released from the interior solid earth.
- This started the evolution of the present atmosphere.
- The early atmosphere largely contained water vapour, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and very little of free oxygen.
- The process through which the gases were outpoured from the interior is called degassing.
- Continuous volcanic eruptions contributed water vapour and gases to the atmosphere.
- As the earth cooled, the water vapour released started getting condensed.
- The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere got dissolved in rainwater and the temperature further decreased causing more condensation and more rains.
- The rainwater falling onto the surface got collected in the depressions to give rise to oceans.
- The earth’s oceans were formed within 500 million years from the formation of the earth. This tells us that the oceans are as old as 4,000 million years.
- Sometime around 3,800 million years ago, life began to evolve.
- However, around 2,500-3,000 million years before the present, the process of photosynthesis got evolved.
- Life was confined to the oceans for a long time.
- Oceans began to have the contribution of oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.
- Eventually, oceans were saturated with oxygen, and 2,000 million years ago, oxygen began to flood the atmosphere.
Read More : Evolution of Lithosphere
