Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Facultad de Ciencias
Departamento de Geociencias

GEOLOGÍA HISTÓRICA
2015501 Grupo 01
Segundo semestre 2024

PRIMERAS ETAPAS EN LA FORMACIÓN DE LA TIERRA

“Nascent Earth ”
“Early Infancy”
“Hadean” Eon
Basada en Gradstein et al. (2012), Ogg et al. (2020),
Gargaud et al. (2012), Levin (2017), entre otros.

1
 Gargaud et al. (2012)

An artist’s impression of the magma ocean that covered the very early Earth.
2
3
4
5
Ogg et al. (2016)
The Hadean is the geologic eon before the Archean.
It started at Earth's formation about 4.6 billion
years ago (4,600 Ma), and ended roughly 3.8 billion
years ago, though the latter date varies according to
different sources.

The name "Hadean" derives from Hades, Greek for

"Underworld", referring to the conditions on Earth
at the time. The geologist Preston Cloud coined the
term in 1972, originally to label the period before
the earliest-known rocks. W. Brian Harland later
coined an almost synonymous term: the "Priscoan
period". Other older texts simply refer to the eon as
the Pre-Archean. Hackett (2012)

The current Precambrian time scale.

The current Precambrian eons, eras,
and periods, from the International
Commission on Stratigraphy, based on
Plumb and James (1986) and Plumb
(1991). Note that Precambrian is not a
formal time scale unit and that all
divisions of the Precambrian are
chronometric (fixed dates at base). 6
Ogg et al. (2016)

In 1972 geologist Preston Cloud proposed

the term Hadean for an earlier interval
from 4.56 to 4.0 billion years ago when
Earth accreted materials from gas, dust,
and meteorites. Levin (2017)

An option for a subdivision of the

Precambrian time scale using geologic
events. The definitions, age estimates,
and nomenclature for these
subdivisions are by Van Kranendonk
et al. (2012).
7
Ogg et al. (2016)

Planetary time scale with

selected major events. 8
 Levin (2017)
Meteorites: Samples of the Early Solar System
meteoroide: impacto de varios asteroides asteroides: impacto de cuerpos grandes que no son planetas

Meteors are interplanetary bits and chunks of space rock that succumb to Earth’s
gravity and streak through our atmosphere, superheating and glowing like “falling
stars.” Most of them fully vaporize in the atmosphere and never reach Earth’s surface.

Meteorites are meteors that survive the heat and reach the ground. Each year, about
500 meteorites that are baseball-sized or larger survive passage through Earth’s
atmosphere and crash into our planet. Small meteorites do not make impact crater, but
those objects more than a few tens of meters in size make craters. The larger the
meteorite, the larger the crater. Weathering and erosion have erased most of the larger
meteorite craters.

Only about 180 partially preserved and proven impact craters or clusters of craters
remain. Meteorites and their craters provide clues to the origin and earliest
history of the Earth, Moon, and planets.

Meteorites are of four different compositions, which give clues to their origin:

9
• Ordinary chondrites are the most abundant and, at 4.56 billion years old, are
clearly Hadean. Chondrites contain spherical bodies called chondrules that are
solidified molten droplets, which may have splashed into space during an impact.
• Carbonaceous chondrites contain about 5% organic compounds. Some are protein-
building amino acids, and many contain the basic building blocks of DNA and RNA
found in all living things. It is thought that these carbonaceous chondrites (as well as
carbon-bearing asteroids and comets) provided much of Earth’s early carbon, and
they may have supplied the organic building blocks of life.
• Iron meteorites are actually made of iron and nickel. Asteroids, which are smaller
than planets but large enough to have metallic cores, are the probable source for iron
meteorites.
• Stony-iron meteorites are the least abundant. They are composed of silicate
minerals and iron-nickel crystals. They are also thought to derive from shattered
asteroids, perhaps originating from the area in the asteroid that lies between the iron
core and the surrounding rocky shell.

• How long ago was the Solar System “born”? The birth was a protracted process,
but based on primitive meteorite samples, we place our Solar System’s birth at about
4.56 billion years ago. Levin (2017)

10
 Wikipedia (2019)

Ordinary chondrite NWA 3189 sliced.

Field of view c. 2.2 cm across. NWA 3189
has been classified as an LL3.2–3.4
ordinary chondrite ("LL" means very low
total iron content; "3" refers to well-
preserved chondrules – the rock has not
been subjected to metamorphism intense
enough to disrupt the chondritic texture).
This chondrite has a multicolored mix of
chondrules of varying size and shape.

Levin (2017)

Small carbonaceous chondrite meteorite.

11
 Levin (2017)

Iron meteorites.
(A) A 12 metric ton
iron meteorite from
Oregon on display at
the American
Museum of Natural
History in New
York. Fortunately,
most meteorites that
land on Earth are
smaller, like the iron
meteorite shown in
(B) from Arizona,
which is about 15 cm
across.

Wikipedia (2019)

Stony-iron meteorite.
A slice of the Esquel meteorite
showing the mixture of meteoric
iron and silicates that is typical of
this division. 12
Hadean Ogg et al. (2016)

The oldest solid materials in the solar system, therefore the oldest rocks that would have been
incorporated in the accretion of planet Earth, are considered calcium–aluminum-rich
aggregates in chondritic meteorites that are dated as 4.567 Ga; and that date is assigned as the
beginning of the Hadean Eon.

After the giant Moon-forming impact at ca. 4.5 Ga, the sphere of molten silicate material
cooled and differentiated into the core and mantle. The oldest preserved mineral crystals from
cooling of magma on Earth are zircons dated 4.4 Ga that were later recycled into weakly
metamorphosed sandstone in the Jack Hills of the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. One of
these zircons has been reanalyzed by high-resolution mapping of radiogenic isotopes to yield a
precise 4.374 ± 0.006 Ga date (Valley et al., 2014; reviewed by Bowring, 2014).

This early crust was largely destroyed during the Late Heavy Bombardment resurfacing of
the inner solar system planets and Moon (ca. 4.1 to 3.85 Ga).
limite superior de lo que se plantea el hadeano superior

The accretion of planet Earth, partial differentiation of its core–mantle, and the formation of
the Moon from the ejected residual from a massive impact with Earth all occurred during the
“Chaotian” interval between these two dates (Van Kranendonk et al., 2012).

13
Levin (2017)
FOLLOWING ACCRETION, EARTH DIFFERENTIATES

About 4.56 million years ago, Earth was composed of a random

mixture of accreting space debris. It was totally different from the
planet we see today.
So to become differentiated, Earth must have become at least
partially molten. This would have allowed much of its iron and
nickel to move toward the center, to form a dense core. The
remaining iron and other metals must have combined with silicon
and oxygen to form the less-dense mantle that surrounds the core.
Still lighter elements would have separated from the mantle to
form the lightest, outermost crustal layer.
As Earth’s iron core developed, it created our planet’s magnetic
field. This field is generated by material circulating in the liquid
metallic core. As the liquid metal circulates, it generates an electric
current, which in turn produces a magnetic field.
The magnetic properties of a suite of ancient rocks from South
Africa indicate that the Earth’s magnetic field was already
present 3.4 billion years ago.

Sequence of events in Earth’s formation.

From A to C, sketches show how the Earth gathered
particles of space debris and subsequently underwent
differentiation to produce its core, mantle, and crust.
14
The Hadean Crust Levin (2017)

Once differentiation had occurred, Earth’s crust was dominated by iron and magnesium
silicates. To understand the origin of this early crust, imagine Earth during its Hadean
infancy, when it seethed with heat. There was ample heat to melt the upper mantle. As a
result of the melting, an extensive magma ocean may have covered Earth’s surface. (A
somewhat similar magma ocean existed on the Archean Moon, producing rocks of the
lunar highlands.)
dorsales

expansión
placas

Characteristics of Earth’s Early Oceanic and Continental Crust.

15
The rocks that formed from the cooling magma ocean are called komatiites. They
take their name from the Komati River in South Africa. Komatiites are ultra-rich in
the elements iron and magnesium. They form at temperatures greater than the
1100°C required to melt basalt. This may have been the earliest time of plate tectonic
activity on Earth. Because komatiites are somewhat denser than the partly molten
upper mantle, slabs of primordial komatiitic oceanic crust might have sunk as they
were conveyed laterally by underlying convection currents in the magma ocean.

Earth has two very distinct crusts today: a denser oceanic crust and a less-dense
continental crust.

Could patches of continental crust have formed during Hadean? Recall the
4.36-billion-year-old zircon grains from Australia. They came from a granitic magma
that was probably produced above a subduction zone by partial melting of a
descending plate.

The resulting less-dense granitic magma would then rise to form small islands of
continental crust. Apparently, Earth had patches of continental crust nearly 4.4
billion years ago, during the early stages of Archean. Levin (2017)

16
Gradstein et al. (2012)

Sketch of dated events, environments,

and suggested time scale divisions for
early Earth according to Moorbath
(2005). 17
 Gradstein et al. (2012)

Summary of early solar system events

18
Precambrian Earth history is divided into four main stages of planetary development,
based on rates of change as preserved in the rock record:

Nascent Earth (4.56-4.03 Ga), Juvenile Earth (4.03-2.78 Ga), Adolescent Earth
(2.78-1.78 Ga), and Mature Earth (1.78-present).

Each of these stages contains a series of temporally distinct events, or periods, with
characteristic rock (or in the earliest stage, isotopic and mineral) associations.

Nascent Earth (4.567-4.03 Ga)

Accretion of the Solar System (4.567-4.40 Ga)

Dating of meteorites using a wide array of isotope systems e including short-lived,

now-extinct radionuclides - show that condensation and accretion of rocky components
within the inner solar nebula occurred at T0 = 4567 +/- 1 Ma, from material already
depleted in the volatile elements that had earlier been swept by the solar wind to the
outer nebula and incorporated into the giant gas. The cited errors in this section are
those published by the original studies, but a new study by Brennecka et al. (2010)
shows that the actual errors of early solar system events may be +/- 5 Ma.
Gradstein et al. (2012)

19
Ca-Al-rich refractory inclusions (CAIs) and amoeboid olivine aggregates were the
first solids to form in the solar nebula, at between 4567.1 and 4568.3 +/- 0.7 Ma,
when the sun was an infalling (class 0) and evolved (class 1) protostar. (Chondrules
and the fine-grained matrix of primitive chondrites formed 1-4 Ma after CAIs, as
free-floating objects in the solar nebula, when the Sun was a classical (class II) and
weak-lined T-Tauri (class III) star.

The subsequent process of collisional accretion to form protoplanetary bodies

occurred in a stochastic fashion, such that within only 500 000 years after T0, some
protoplanetary bodies were fully accreted.

Most rocky bodies experienced core formation, differentiation and partial melting
between 1 and 11 Ma after T0, while subsequent disturbance events continued to c.
4500 Ma, during late stages of accretion.

Recent data from W isotopes suggest that Earth accretion initially progressed rapidly,
over 10-30 Ma, through equilibrium accretion and metallic core segregation
directly from the silicate mantle; the surface of Earth at this time would have been a
magma ocean.
Gradstein et al. (2012)

20
Mars differentiated within ~40 Ma of T0, and both it and the Earth are now thought to
have formed from superchondritic bulk compositions.

The discovery of isotopic similarity between lunar and Earth rocks discounted early
models of Moon capture by Earth’s gravitational field and led to the idea of their co-
evolution through a Moon-forming giant impact event between a Mars-sized
protoplanetary impactor, Theia (between 0.1-0.2 Earth masses), and nascent Earth
that had attained 90% of its current mass (Next figure). This giant impact event is now
considered to have occurred late in the accretionary history, at ~4500 Ma, following a
~40 Ma hiatus in accretion; this event would have led once more to a magma ocean on
early Earth.

Impact simulation models suggest that the vast majority of material in the Moon
originated from the impactor, which collided with Earth with an impact angle near 45º.
On Mars, a relatively large surface area is inferred to be ancient -c. 4500 Ma (Nyquist
et al., 2001), and recent studies suggest that the Martian hemispheric dichotomy
occurred as the result of a late-accretionary giant impact, ~100 Ma after planetary
accretion.
Gradstein et al. (2012)

21
Gradstein et al. (2012)

(a) The Moon-forming giant impact event at

c. 4.5 Ga, showing a Mars-sized protoplanetary
body (Theia) colliding with a primitive Earth;
(b) Computer simulation model of the Moon-
forming giant impact, in which oblique collision
of protoplanet Theia with an already
differentiated Earth (blue core, orange mantle)
causes the mantles of both to be vaporized. Some
of this material ends up back in Earth’s orbit and
forms a circumterrestrial disk from which the
Moon coalesces shortly afterward. Both images
from Spudis (1990). 22
The weak gravity field of the Moon and dry accretion history led to development of its
anorthositic crust, which formed through plagioclase flotation in a magma ocean, following
solidification of 80-85% of the original melt within about 100 Ma of the impact event (4417 +/- 6
Ma).

This anorthositic crust insulated the molten mantle for a considerable period of time, leading to
continuous magmatism from 4350-3900 Ma. Interestingly, this age range is similar to that
obtained from the Jack Hills detrital zircons on Earth.

On Earth, the greater gravitational energy allowed it to retain a water-rich atmosphere.

The presence of water increases the solubility of plagioclase in melts and thus plagioclase did not
crystallize within the early magma ocean and no anorthositic crust formed on Earth.
Gradstein et al. (2012)

Comparative histogram of zircon ages

from dated lunar samples and from
detrital zircons from the Jack Hills
greenstone belt. Redrafted from Pidgeon
et al. (2010). 23
By 4.46-4.45 Ga, Earth had attained its present size, the core had differentiated,
and the planet had retained its atmosphere. The post-Moon forming magma ocean
had completely differentiated by 4.4-4.3 Ga suggested that freezing of the magma ocean
would lead to a gravitationally unstable mantle, which overturned and led to the
formation of a huge mafic crust.

By 4 Ga, the mantle had already obtained its current redox state, due to loss of He2+ to
space and mixing of oxidants, such as ferric iron (Fe3+), water, and carbonate.

Xenon isotopes suggest that heat escaped much faster on early Earth than today, driven
by magmatism, rather than conduction through the lithospheric lid, and that the surface
was renewed over a time scale on the order of 1-10 Ma for the first billion years of Earth
history. These results strongly argue against modern-style plate tectonics
occurring prior to c. 3.5 Ga, or to significant formation of continental crust
prior to this time.
Gradstein et al. (2012)

24
On Earth, only tiny zircon crystals and a few small, scattered fragments of crust
exist from the period 4.4-3.6 Ga. Given Earth’s much greater mass, the continued
meteorite bombardment that pummeled the lunar crust to 3.9 Ga must also have affected
Earth.

Evidence that Earth was affected by the late heavy bombardment is found in the form of
tungsten isotope heterogeneities from metasedimentary rocks of the Isua supracrustal belt,
in western Greenland. One possible reason for the lack of more direct evidence for this
event (e.g., shocked zircons) is that along with its greater mass, Earth also contained more
internal heat than the Moon and so contained a molten mantle and thinner crust than the
Moon. Another possible factor is that the crust was largely basaltic and thus there were no
zircons or quartz to be shocked by the impacts.

The high energy and size of these late meteorites meant they would have penetrated
Earth’s crust and stirred the mantle, leading to resurfacing of much of the Earth by
basaltic lavas. Thus, it is perhaps no coincidence that continental crust was not
widely preserved on Earth until after the late heavy bombardment tailed off, after
3.9 Ga.
Gradstein et al. (2012)

25
Early models envisaged the formation of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans through
volcanic outgassing of the mantle. However, it is now considered that delivery of these
excess volatiles (H2O, CO2, N2, HCl) to the surface proceeded through impact
degassing during planetary accretion, such that the atmosphere and ocean should have
started as the planet formed.

Modeling studies show that accretion would have included material from the outer
solar system (2.5-3.5 astronomical units), where icy planetesimals and meteorites have
approximately the same deuterium/ hydrogen ratio as do Earth’s oceans; only ~10% of
volatiles are considered to have been imported from comets.

Three possible sources of water on Earth have been proposed:

1) Water-containing rocky planetesimals, similar to carbonaceous chondrites;

2) Icy planetesimals, such as comets;
3) The solar nebula.
Gradstein et al. (2012)

26
 Gradstein et al. (2012)
However, the D/H ratio of water on Earth indicates that it did not come from
comets. Rather, it is considered that Earth accreted in a dry state, and, although it may
have had an early atmosphere, this would have been blasted off by the Moon-forming giant
impact event at 4.50 Ga, which created a magma ocean and vapor silicate atmosphere that
lasted for several millions of years (Liu, 2004).

It is now widely agreed that late addition of water was imported by icy
asteroids, perturbed into Earth’s orbit by the gravitational effect of Jupiter. Solidification
of the magma ocean resulted in outgassing of CO2 and H2O from the mantle, resulting in
a CO2-rich early atmosphere.

The oceans formed later, with the onset of dense, supercritical H2O condensation at 450
+/- 20ºC. CO2 was removed from the atmosphere as a dense supercritical H2O-CO2
mixture during ocean formation when surface temperatures had cooled to 300ºC.

Although the oceans and atmosphere probably formed early in planetary evolution, the
last ocean-vaporizing impactor (440 km diameter) occurred around 4.3-4.1 Ga, such that
the origin of life (or at least the precursor to present life) was unlikely prior to this time.

27
 Gargaud et al. (2012)

Schematic representation of the various episodes in the evolution of the atmosphere and the hydrosphere before 4.4 Ga.

a. Between 10 and 70 Ma (after the beginning of the accretion), the metallic core and the silicate mantle became differentiated. The latter
was largely molten and the surface of the Earth was covered with an ocean of molten silicates (magma ocean). The primordial atmosphere,
inherited from the protosolar nebula (H + He) was rapidly eroded, whereas degassing of the planet and the meteoritic contribution (“late
veneer”) brought the elements of a new atmosphere to Earth.
b. Between 70 and 100 Ma, the internal heat flux remained very high (> 150 W.m–2) such that even the very outermost portion of the
magma ocean could not crystallize. The massive atmosphere of water vapor and carbon dioxide created an intense greenhouse effect and
the temperature “at the ground” exceeded 1200 °C.
c. Between 100 and 170 Ma, the heat flux had decreased such that the formation of a solid crust on the surface of the magma ocean
became possible. The Earth’s outer envelopes then cooled much faster and the atmospheric water was able to condense: one or several
oceans covered the Earth’s surface. The concentration of atmospheric CO2 remained very high and the temperature at the ground became
less than 300 °C. (After Pinti, 2002.) 28
Gargaud et al. (2012)

Regulation of the surface temperature of the Earth

through weathering of silicate rocks.

From 4.4 Ga, as soon as liquid water was available at the

surface of our planet, leaching of silicate rocks absorbed
atmospheric CO2 (a).
The decrease in the partial pressure of atmospheric CO2
caused a reduction in the greenhouse effect and
consequently, a reduction in the surface temperature,
which could have resulted in a global glaciation. However,
on a completely frozen Earth, trapping of CO2 would be
ineffective, while the gas was continuously released by
volcanoes (b).
Then the CO2 partial pressure would have risen, together
with the greenhouse effect and the surface temperature (c).

Models based on this system of exchange between silicates

and carbonates predict that, at the end of the Hadean,
about 3.8 Ga ago, the Earth was extremely cold
worldwide... which contradicts the analysis of oxygen and
silicon isotopes in rocks of that period, which points to an
ocean temperature of about 70 °C.
29
Gargaud et al. (2012)

Hydrogen flux in the atmosphere of the Hadean Earth. The composition of the atmosphere evolved until a stable state, where
the hydrogen flux (and that of other reducing gases) entering and leaving the atmosphere were in balance. The significance of
hydrogen escape to space has recently been revised downwards. As a result the atmosphere of the Hadean Earth was perhaps
richer in hydrogen than thought, thus being more reducing.
30
THE PRIMITIVE ATMOSPHERE— VIRTUALLY NO OXYGEN Levin (2017)

Today living things are adapted to air that is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other
gases. Earth’s contemporary atmosphere evolved over the past 4.56 billion years, and it is a
product of Earth’s highly interactive systems of rock, water, gases, and living things.

Before 3.8 billion years ago, Earth’s Hadean atmosphere had nearly 0% oxygen, not the 21%
we have today. So little free oxygen was discharged into Earth’s early atmosphere that the
few oxygen atoms available immediately combined with metals such as iron.

If we could time-travel back to the Hadean, we would quickly suffocate. Hadean air consisted
mostly of water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and lesser amounts of other gases.
Significantly, the volatiles (substances easily driven off by heating) released by
modern volcanoes approximate the composition of the Archean atmosphere.

Sources of atmospheric gases during Hadean were the accreted particles and pieces of the
planet, meteorites, and comets (comets are almost entirely frozen gases, ice, and dust). The
volatiles were scattered throughout the accreting planet and they were continually delivered
to Earth by impacting bodies. We know that volatiles and some water are especially
abundant in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.

31
Once at Earth’s surface, the volatiles underwent a variety of changes. Water vapor condensed and fell
as rain, filling low basins and thus forming Earth’s first oceans. Carbon dioxide and other gases that
were dissolved in the rain made sea water considerably more acidic than today. This acidity caused
rapid chemical weathering, which added calcium, magnesium, and other ions to sea water. Much later,
when the seas became less acidic and oxygen more prevalent, these ions would join with carbon
dioxide to form limestones and the shells of myriad marine organisms.
Levin (2017)

Schematic diagram showing the movement of volatiles on the Hadean-Archean surface. Nitrogen was
retained in the atmosphere, whereas much of the water vapor was lost to the oceans by condensation. Some carbon
dioxide was combined with calcium and magnesium, derived from weathering and extracted to form carbonate
rocks. Because hydrogen was light, it was lost to space. There was virtually no free oxygen.
32
Geological Clues to Early Atmospheres

We know Earth’s early atmosphere was oxygen-poor from several lines of evidence:

•There are few oxidized iron minerals from that time. With little oxygen available, iron
combined with sulfur to form sulfides like pyrite.
•Archean rocks are commonly dark because they contain unoxidized iron (which would
have been oxidized thus yielding red color in sediments that characterize an
oxygen-rich environment).
•Rather than oxygen, the Hadean atmosphere was rich in carbon dioxide, which
combines with water to form carbonic acid. In such an acidic environment, alkaline
rocks like limestone and dolostone cannot develop. This may account for the absence of
carbonate rocks from this early stage of Earth history.

Levin (2017)

33
THE PRIMITIVE OCEAN AND THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE Levin (2017)

The first water bodies that formed at Earth’s surface were derived from the atmosphere after
it cooled sufficiently for water to condense and fall as precipitation. This liquid water
probably began to fill low-lying areas as early as 4.4 billion years ago. Early seas formed in
this way were acidic, for they contained plentiful carbon dioxide from the early atmosphere.

A change to more alkaline water may have occurred rapidly as large amounts of calcium,
sodium, and iron were introduced by submarine volcanoes, neutralizing the acid.

Could the enormous volume of ocean water have come from Earth’s interior alone?
Yes. Vast amounts of water were locked within minerals in the accreted Earth. This water,
“sweated” from Earth’s interior and precipitated onto the surface, immediately began to
dissolve soluble minerals and carry them to the sea.

The initial high acidity of the oceans enhanced the process, so the oceans quickly acquired
their saltiness. They have maintained a relatively consistent saltiness by precipitating
surplus soluble minerals at about the same rate as they are supplied. Marine fossils suggest
that sodium content has not varied appreciably in sea water for at least the past 600 million
years.

34
Having outgassed all that water early in its history, Earth has been recycling it ever since.
Water is continuously recirculated by evaporation and precipitation— processes powered by the
Sun and gravity. This is called the hydrologic cycle. Some of the water in the oceans is
temporarily sequestered by incorporation into clay minerals on the sea floor. However, these
sediments may eventually be melted into magmas that return the water to the surface through
volcanic eruption.
Levin (2017)

The modern hydrologic cycle. Water constantly circulates in Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, on its
surface, and just beneath the surface. To follow the cycle, it is easiest to start at the ocean, where water
evaporates. It later condenses and precipitates to the ground (as rain, snow, hail, dew, or frost). It then
travels back to the ocean, either overland (streams) or by slowly migrating beneath the surface as
groundwater.
35
Isotopic Evidence for an Early Basaltic Protocrust Gradstein et al. (2012)

The mineral and rock record of Earth’s earliest crust begins at 4404 +/- 8 Ma, the
age of the oldest detrital zircon grain from Jack Hills in Western Australia. Detrital
zircons and Sm-Nd isochrons are the only record of crust-forming processes on Earth
prior to 4404-4030 Ma, the age of the oldest dated rock from the Acasta gneiss complex.

Lead isotope patterns and anomalous 142Nd/144Nd ratios in early Archean

metasedimentary rocks and 176Hf/177Hf ratios of 3.7-4.4 Ga old detrital zircons point to
a vanished crust that persisted through much of early Earth history. Specifically,
Pb isotopic heterogeneity in 3.82-3.65 Ga rocks from West Greenland (North Atlantic
Craton) has been used to infer the coexistence of enriched and depleted mantle domains,
or, more likely, the separation of protocrust by 4.3- 4.1 Ga.

This protocrust may have formed by remelting or differentiation of even more ancient
basaltic crust. Indeed, the presence and involvement of >4 Ga crustal remnants,
including enriched basaltic protocrust, in the formation of other early Archean terrains is
now much more widely recognized. However, new isotopic evidence supports only a
limited amount of continental crust on the early Earth.

36
142Nd excesses relative to modern basalts exist in a variety of 3.8-3.6 Ga rocks from
southwest Greenland (North Atlantic Craton) and indicate Sm/Nd fractionation to
have commenced before 4.35 Ga to form a strongly evolved crustal component.
This 142Nd anomaly is absent from rocks younger than 3.7 Ga, and when combined
with Hf isotopes of ancient zircons and Nb/Th evolution models, provides strong
evidence that the reservoirs that resulted from Hadean silicate differentiation
were homogenized by this time through effective and rapid recycling of the
crust.

However, evidence from combined Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf isotopic studies suggest that a
depleted reservoir persisted though at least all of the Archean.

Gradstein et al. (2012)

37
Continental Crust Appears Worldwide Levin (2017)

The first oceanic crust formed about 4.5 billion years ago by partial melting of rocks in the upper
mantle. Oceanic crust has less silica and more magnesium and iron than continental crust. It is
called mafic.
The continental crust is rich in feldspars, quartz, and muscovite. It is called felsic. Felsic crust
started forming 100 million years later, around 4.4 billion years ago. This occurred in subduction
zones, where descending slabs of crust partially melted. The less-dense components in the melt
slowly rose buoyantly to the surface, where they cooled to form continental crust. Ancient
patches of continental crust are represented by the 3.8-billion-year-old Amisoq Gneiss Complex
of and Canada’s 4.04-billion-year-old Acasta Gneiss. These old continental rocks are tonalite
gneisses. They were formed by metamorphism of tonalite, a variety of sodium-rich diorite that
contains at least 10% quartz.

eos.org (2014)

Outcrop of dark tonalitic gneisses near the

discovery locality of the Acasta Gneiss Complex,
Northwest Territories, Canada. This picture shows
the sample locality for Acasta. Field of view is
approximately 10 meters across. Photo credit: S.J.
Mojzsis 38
 Gradstein et al. (2012)
Hadean Zircons from Jack Hills

The oldest directly dated crustal materials on Earth are detrital zircons from low-grade Archean
(c. 3.0 Ga) metaconglomerates and quartzites from the Jack Hills greenstone belt, and a variety
of nearby belts in the northwestern part of the Yilgarn Craton, Australia. These 3.05 Ga rocks
contain detrital zircons with a range of ages from c. 3700 Ma back to an astonishing 4404 +/- 8.
Heterogeneous hafnium isotope values on 4.37-4.01 Ga Jack Hills detrital zircons were used to
suggest the early formation of continental crust, probably as early as 4.45 0.02 Ga (similar to
on Mars), supporting other work.

Oxygen isotope values from these same zircons suggest crystallization from protoliths that were
affected by low-temperature alteration, which has been used to suggest the presence of cool
liquid water at 4.2.

The oxygen isotope data has been used in combination with other results to infer the formation
of continental crust by convergent margin magmatism at plate boundary interactions (i.e.
subduction zones), and that this occurred essentially continuously from 4.5-4.2 Ga, with parts
of the crust taking on continental characteristics by c. 4.35 Ga), however, cautioned that the Jack
Hills zircons could have crystallized in granitic melts derived from hydrous partial melting of
hornblende gabbros in the roof zone of axial magma chambers, as in modern oceanic crust, and
Nutman and Heiss (2009) also pointed out that the low magmatic temperatures could simply
relate to late-stage zircon crystallization in melts that were originally much hotter.
39
 Gradstein et al. (2012)
Bennett et al. (2010) also caution against inference of significant volumes of Hadean
continental crust, based on combined Hf and 142Nd isotopic signatures from 3.87-
3.63 Ga rocks from southwest Greenland and China. A more recent model suggests
that the early Earth was characterized by a thick basaltic crust that underwent local
partial melting to form relatively low volumes of tonalite.

geologyin.com (2019)

This zircon, which is about twice the

width of a human hair, is now
confirmed to be the oldest bit of the
Earth's crust ever discovered. It was
found in the Jack Hills region of
Australia. (Courtesy John W.
Valley/University of Wisconsin-
Madison)

40
Mount Narryer > 4.0 Ga Detrital Zircons Glickson. (2014)

Photographs of quartzite and conglomerate, Jack Hill, northwestern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia. ( a and b ) Jack
Hills, Western Australia, site of Hadean zircons as old as 4.4 billion years, the oldest known samples of Earth;
( c ) Outcrop of quartzite pebble-bearing meta conglomerate at Jack Hills. Courtesy John Valley.
41
 Glickson. (2014)

Cathodluminescence images of five 4,400–4,200 Ma detrital zircons from Jack Hills. Details of
these grains are presented in Cavosie et al. ( 2004 , 2005 , 2006). Ages are in Million years.
Uncertainties in Pb-Pb ages are 2 SD. Scale bars = 100 μm (From Cavosie et al. 2007;
42
4.4 Ga Zircons Cathodluminescence and back-
scattered electron images of a detrital zircon
crystal grain W74/2–36 from Jack Hills. Scale
bars are 50 μm;
( a ) lighter circular areas are the SHRIMP
analytical sites and the values record the 207 Pb/
206 Pb age of each site. The two white areas (1

and 2) represent the approximate location of the

δ 18 O oxygen analytical spots.
( b ) Cathodluminescence image showing the
sites of analysis and the 207 Pb/206Pb ages for
each spot
(From Wilde et al. 2001 ; Nature, by permission)

Glickson. (2014)
43
 Gradstein et al. (2012)
Origins and Early Evolution of Life

The origin(s) of life on Earth are not known and remain one of the biggest challenges facing
science. Following the famous Urey-Miller experiments of the early 1950s, which showed
that it was relatively simple to create organic molecules from inorganic components, a major
advance in understanding the origin(s) of life was made with the recognition that the tree of
life is composed of three main branches and that the last common ancestor of all of these
were thermophiles.

Furthermore, many hyperthermophilic, deep-branching organisms share the same metabolic

pathway of reducing elemental sulfur to H2S, with both H2 and organic compounds as an
electron donor; thus, it is most likely that life started in hydrothermal environments
where seawater is circulated down along fractures deep into the Earth’s crust, heated up, and
returned to the surface in warm to hot vein systems.

Most researchers agree that in these systems, anaerobic metabolism arose first, as it derives
energy from the oxidation of organic compounds faster and more efficiently than aerobic
metabolisms using O2. What makes hydrothermal systems so exciting to early life studies is
that they are natural reactors, where many types of complex chemical reactions occur as a
result of the interaction between hot water and rocks of the Earth’s crust.

44
 Gradstein et al. (2012)

Most of us are aware of these systems through spectacular on-land examples, where water that
has been circulated down into the crust and heated by volcanic activity erupts back to the
surface as hot springs and geysers, as, for example, in Geysir, Iceland, and Yellowstone,
USA.

But far more common are hydrothermal systems that erupt underwater in the marine
environment, where hot water interacts with basaltic and/or ultramafic rocks of the oceanic
crust. Most of these systems are high-temperature black smokers along the axis of mid-
oceanic spreading centers. Cooler, white smokers occur off-axis and in other marine
environments, where the heating of seawater within the crust is less extreme and the products
of watererock interactions are significantly different from those formed under higher-
temperature regimes.

For many years, black smokers were considered a possible site for the origins of life. However,
current thinking suggests that rather than high-temperature black smokers, where
temperatures are commonly too high for even the most extreme hyperthermophiles, a more
likely environment for the origin of life is in alkaline, low-temperature, hydrothermal
systems in oceanic crust, where mineral reactions may form the purine coding elements of
RNA and amino acids, all trapped within tiny iron sulfide cavities. Water-rock interactions in
oceanic lithosphere have even been shown to produce HCN.

45
Recently, the importance of the serpentinization of oceanic crust as a source of energy to
promote the development of life has been identified. According to Russell and Hall (2006),
the fluxes of energy and nutrients available in hydrothermal mounds encouraged
differentiation of the first microbes into Bacteria and Archea. It is widely considered that
these two main branches of life e including most of the principal biochemical pathways that
sustain the modern biosphere - had evolved early in Earth history, probably prior to 3.7 Ga,
and almost certainly by 3.5 Ga (Nisbet and Sleep, 2001), when it appears from
morphological and geological data that life was already diverse and occupied different niches.

A promising technique for estimating the time scale of prokaryote evolution has been
achieved using phylogenetic relationships. For example, Battistuzzi et al. (2004) have
used phylogenetic results from the analysis of amino acid sequences from 32 proteins
common to 72 species of prokaryotes and eukaryotes and estimated phylogenetic relationships
and divergence times with a local clock method.

These authors estimate an origin of life prior to 4.1 Ga, methanogenesis at 4.1-3.8 Ga,
anaerobic methanotrophy after 3.1 Ga, phototrophy prior to 3.2 Ga, and aerobic
methanotrophy by 2.8-2.5 Ga. Gradstein et al. (2012)

46
 Gargaud et al. (2012)

The windows for the emergence of life on Earth are framed by two events: the time when environmental conditions
became compatible with life, and the time when, thanks to the fossil record, we may be certain that our planet sheltered
life. Between these two limits, we do not know – and will never know – when life appeared, nor even whether this
process has been unique or whether it recurred several times.

47
Makishima (2017) Summary of important events
including hypothetical ones in the
early Earth’s history.

The pink boxes are related to the

chondrites.
The orange boxes indicate events
related to the Moon.
The yellow boxes are related to the
early Earth.
The green and blue boxes show the
limits of extinct nuclei and
geophysical requirements.

48
Gargaud et al. (2012)

Simplified geological time scale showing a

possible succession of the different geological
events that took place during the first billion
years of the Earth’s history.

The separation into a metallic core and a silicate

mantle was rapid and dramatic in comparison with the
growth of the continental crust, which has taken place
in a continuous manner since 4.4 Ga, at least.

Moreover, several arguments indicate that the mantle

of the very young Earth underwent an episode of
general melting. In other words, the surface of our
planet was completely molten, forming what
geologists term a magma ocean (which persisted until
4.4 Ga at the latest). Between t0 + 10 Ma (the
minimum age for the differentiation of the core) and t0
+ 70 Ma, carbonaceous chondrites and micrometeorites
contributed a significant proportion of terrestrial water,
such that at 4.4 Ga, liquid water was stable on the
surface of our planet.

The meteoritic bombardment was a cataclysmic event

that affected the Earth about 3.9 Ga ago.
49
Gargaud et al. (2012)

50
Gargaud et al. (2012)

51
Gargaud et al. (2012)

52
Gargaud et al. (2012)

53
Gargaud et al. (2012)

54
Gargaud et al. (2012)

55
Gargaud et al. (2012)

56
Información de interés.

Próximos temas: Tiempo y geología.

Minerales y rocas.

57