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The mass of Earth's oceans is estimated to be 1.37 × 10 21 kg, which is 0.023% of the total mass of Earth, 6.0 × 10 24 kg. An additional 5.0 × 10 20 kg of water is estimated to exist in ice, lakes, rivers, groundwater, and atmospheric water vapor. [21] A significant amount of water is also stored in Earth's crust, mantle, and core.
This demonstrates the crustal spatial evolution at the Earth's surface dictated by plate tectonics. Earth's crustal evolution involves the formation, destruction and renewal of the rocky outer shell at that planet's surface. The variation in composition within the Earth's crust is much greater than that of other terrestrial planets.
The natural history of Earth concerns the development of planet Earth from its formation to the present day. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Nearly all branches of natural science have contributed to understanding of the main events of Earth's past, characterized by constant geological change and biological evolution .
The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) or Great Oxygenation Event, also called the Oxygen Catastrophe, Oxygen Revolution, Oxygen Crisis or Oxygen Holocaust, [2] was a time interval during the Earth's Paleoproterozoic era when the Earth's atmosphere and shallow seas first experienced a rise in the concentration of free oxygen. [3]
By the start of the Carboniferous Period, the Earth begins to resemble its present state. Insects roamed the land and would soon take to the skies; sharks swam the oceans as top predators, [83] and vegetation covered the land, with seed-bearing plants and forests soon to flourish.
The Hadean (/ h eɪ ˈ d iː ə n, ˈ h eɪ d i ə n / hay-DEE-ən, HAY-dee-ən) is the first and oldest of the four known geologic eons of Earth's history, starting with the planet's formation about 4.6 billion years ago [4] [5] (estimated 4567.30 ± 0.16 million years ago [2] set by the age of the oldest solid material in the Solar System — protoplanetary disk dust particles — found as ...
As depicted, Earth's planetary crust had largely cooled, leaving a water-rich barren surface marked by volcanoes and continents, eventually developing round microbialites. The Moon orbited Earth much closer, appearing much larger, producing more frequent and wider eclipses as well as tidal effects. [18]
The ocean is a major driver of Earth's water cycle. Ocean water represents the largest body of water within the global water cycle (oceans contain 97% of Earth's water). Evaporation from the ocean moves water into the atmosphere to later rain back down onto land and the ocean. [69] Oceans have a significant effect on the biosphere.