Initially, I intended to directly describe water and its role as the primary medium for life. However, I realized it would be beneficial to provide some background to support these descriptions.

Therefore, it's time to present a sort of logical structure regarding Earth's "steps." While you may consider your own years, my primary goal is to outline the "periods" and "steps" without further interruption, allowing the author to express themselves strictly from your perspective! I will step back as the author discusses water, wishing you success in your understanding.

When the Earth was a lava ocean, researchers referred to it as "Red Terra." Following cooling (the second cooling after the Moon's formation), the period became known as "Black Terra" due to the predominance of black rocks formed during this time.

Returning to the presentation, it is crucial to remember that evidence of Earth's age began to emerge from this latest cooling phase. The age of the previously mentioned events was detected and confirmed through asteroids and meteors that preserved their true ages due to a lack of melting caused by catastrophic collisions.

James Hutton, considered the father of geology, was the first to challenge the widely accepted age of just a few thousand years (the biblical 7,000 years) for Earth, a view promoted by one of the religions (Christianity, which I also identify with, emphasizing the existence and power of God). Hutton estimated that millions of years were required for the processes he discovered, particularly sedimentation.

Continuing with the descriptions of the last liquid state, it was first described by Lord Kelvin, an expert in thermodynamics, who deduced from volcanic phenomena that Earth was a constantly cooling liquid planet. Kelvin calculated the planet's age to be at least 20 million years, which I include to highlight the evolution toward current data.

However, he was unaware of one of Earth's primary thermal sources—radioactivity from uranium, thorium, cesium, cobalt, and potassium—which has kept the Earth warm even to this day. These radioactive elements, abundant in the proto-Earth's structure, provided precise details regarding the ages of certain rocks through their characteristic "half-life."

The term "half-life" refers to the time required for a specific quantity of a substance to reduce to half its initial value. This concept is applicable across various fields, including pharmacology, biology, physics, chemistry, and forensic science, but we are interested in geological radioactivity, particularly radioactive isotopes.

The corresponding half-life values are identified, confirmed, and found in tables within specialized literature. Arthur Holmes initially utilized this process to determine Earth's age at about 4.5 billion years, an age that remains uncontested today.

As we explore geological discoveries and our history, the first 100 million years (at a minimum) after these events marked the "World of Waters," when over 90% of Earth's surface was covered by water, leading to the term "Blue Terra."

Evidence supporting this includes rocks found in southern Africa, which exhibit characteristics that led to the conclusion of the existence of a "World of Waters," formed approximately 3.5 billion years ago. All rocks dating back to this time are volcanic rocks formed beneath deep water.

During that era, the atmosphere was far from conducive to life. Between the "arrival of water" and at least 3.5 billion years ago, Earth's atmosphere was a hellish mix of CO2, toxic gases, steam, and other elements, creating a devastating greenhouse effect, with estimates of extremely high temperatures (comparable to present-day Venus).

Notably, with "the arrival of water," we discuss oceans and immense storms that were ubiquitous on Earth, estimated to have "rained heavily" for millions of years. The energy of these storms stemmed from high temperatures, immense lunar gravity (as the Moon was much closer to Earth then), and Earth's rapid rotation.

In this ocean, volcanoes began to emerge gradually, subtly increasing land surfaces through volcanic islands. Over time, the iron-rich oceans attracted a greenish-olive hue to the entire planet, leading to a period when Earth could be described as "Green Terra."

As time passed, the immense CO2 layer maintained high pressures and temperatures (over 200 degrees Celsius) due to the greenhouse effect, and, combined with the green waters, Earth's color shifted to red, resulting in a "Red Terra." This hot, toxic ocean "existed" for half a billion years.

However, this ocean facilitated the initial evolution of life, likely allowing for the emergence of structured extremophiles that enabled further evolutionary development for a minimum of 500 million years, during the so-called "chemical soup" period when the first unicellular organisms formed.

Evidence for this includes formations known as "stromatolites," created by colonies of unicellular organisms, dated to be around 3.5 billion years old. It's important to note that stromatolites didn't evolve or exist later.

A functional detail about these stromatolites is that they utilized photosynthesis to break down carbon dioxide, releasing water and oxygen while producing sugars (glucose).

However, dramatic changes were on the horizon. Volcanic activity created a new rock form, granite, which began to dominate, leading to a world characterized by granite approximately 3.4 billion years ago. This is why geologists refer to this period as "Gray Terra."

In South Africa, the first continental forms of Earth's existence, comprised of granite, survived. Since granite is lighter than volcanic basalt, the Earth's crust became stratified, with basalt beneath and granite above.

After one billion years of existence, Earth began geological functioning according to current mechanisms. The terrestrial crust started to show the first cracks, akin to present-day tectonic plates, albeit smaller and far more numerous. In these tectonic rupture zones, water invaded the underlying magma, resulting in the formation of this new rock, granite.

Thus began the process of continent formation with geological structures resembling those we see today, lasting another billion years (up to 2.5 billion years ago). It is said that the dominance of oceans came to an end (even though today, only a third of Earth's surface is land, and two-thirds is water).

The emergence of the first proto-continents from granite not only altered Earth's appearance. During this period, significant actions of life were recorded (though not as we know it today or from textbooks about trilobites, dinosaurs, or others).

At this time, life was primarily manifested through extremophiles (which had appeared long before but benefited from the support of continents for massive coverage through nearly ubiquitous water) that were acidophiles, basophiles, endoliths, thermophiles, etc. (bacteria and archaea).

They represent the first forms of life on Earth and began to "produce" the environment we recognize today, particularly oxygen (which is said to originate solely from the action of stromatolites). This bears a striking resemblance to what terraforming would entail.

Later, algae with their photosynthesis emerged. Stromatolites found in western Australia, in Shark Bay, provide evidence of their actions (of extremophiles and algae) over the millennia. Notably, these stromatolites primarily exhibit the action of microscopic algae that "flourished" due to the oceanic coastlines of that time, benefiting from the tidal effects then.

These stromatolites are small mounds formed layer by layer through the actions of these "living organisms" (in a process similar to coral formation today). These stromatolites are also found in geological strata formed during that era.

These are declared as the ancestors of all life forms on Earth and were the ones that, through photosynthesis processes, created a suitable atmosphere for all subsequent life forms, a process that sustained itself for the next two billion years.

Alongside the ubiquitous bacterial "soup" in the ocean, the microbiome was established that would be found in any subsequent life forms. Moreover, the oxygen produced first dissolved in the existing oceans, oxidizing nearly all the iron deposits present there. Consequently, the waters "lost" their green color, transforming into the blue waters we see today. Furthermore, the atmosphere was gradually cleansed of CO2 and saturated with oxygen (as a result of the metabolism driven by "using" photosynthesis), and Earth became "Blue Planet." Remnants of that time are the vast sedimentary deposits of iron oxide that are today mined across the Earth.

The moment arrived about 1.5 billion years ago. The atmosphere was "full" of oxygen, Earth rotated more slowly, resulting in longer days (16 hours), and the Moon had moved away to approximately one-third of its current distance, diminishing gravitational effects. This was the time when the tectonic repositioning of the small and numerous continents "went awry."

It seems that due to diffuse tectonics, major pressures arose in the mantle, leading to a concentrated action of magmatic convection currents within it. Where these convection currents encountered a fissure, a new tectonic rupture and new volcanoes emerged.

This resulted in what is now known as a "fissure eruption," characterized by an eruption that stretches like a wall of lava over vast distances (rather than from a volcanic cone, as we are accustomed). Thus, the plates began the well-known movement of continents from those times.

Why did the continents "go awry?" Because, over time (approximately 400 million years), they formed a single continent known as "Rodinia" (with present-day Canada and America located centrally), around 1.1 billion years ago. By the end of this period, days lasted 18 hours, and atmospheric temperatures were around 80 degrees Celsius.

This continent was a desolate place, a true desert, devoid of any form of life (as we know it today). The significant effect of this single continent was that, during its tectonic movement around 750-700 million years ago, Rodinia triggered an intensification of oceanic currents transporting heat from the equator to the poles, combined with an enormous increase in volcanic activity (which split the great continent) and thus initiated the "Great Freeze."

Moreover, another process favored this phenomenon. The climatic changes induced by the new ocean currents led to an increase in precipitation. The atmosphere still contained a significant percentage of CO2, and along with the massive presence of volcanic gases, this resulted in severe acid rains.

Their effect on Earth was represented by a massive "storage" of CO2 in rocks and a reduction of this gas below the optimal level for the greenhouse effect, resulting in a decrease in thermal retention and consequently cooling the atmosphere and crust to a "normal" level of minus 60 degrees Celsius.

This period is referred to as "White Terra" or the period of the white Earth ball (Snowball Earth). Notably, the ice layer contributed to cooling by reflecting even more solar radiation, eventually reflecting almost all solar radiation.

Nevertheless, the latest geological evidence discovered indicates that the "White Terra" stage occurred at least twice in Earth's "history," around 2.4 billion years ago and during the interval of 720-635 million years, in the so-called Cryogenian period (Cryogenian) or Marinoan glaciation.

Thus, gradually, over 50-70 million years, Earth became a completely ice-covered planet, a "white" planet enveloped in ice and snow. It is estimated that the entire surface of Earth was covered by an ice crust approximately 2 to 3 km thick, with the ice plates on land being considerably thicker.

One might think that most forms of life from that time disappeared, but that is not the case. Given the long period of "lack of light," it is quite evident that photosynthesis seems to have been nearly suspended, and life continued to evolve through extremophiles (and other unicellular forms) and some forms of algae.

The "practitioners" of photosynthesis merely adapted, diversified, and flourished even in the "melting" areas that were quite prevalent due to the significant volcanic activity of those times.

Then, after a while, the weight of the "snow mantle" led to an uneven burial of the Earth's crust, resulting in the emergence of pressure points and the breaking of the crust with the appearance of supervolcanoes that supplemented the "activity" of the "rift zones." These caused a sort of acceleration in the movement of tectonic plates, and the supercontinent Rodinia began to split into several separate, distinct tectonic plates.

Additionally, the CO2 emitted by the super-eruptions (billions of tons of gas) heightened the greenhouse effect, and Earth slowly began to thaw, around 630 million years ago. This phenomenon was amplified by the fact that the ice layer did not allow the absorption of CO2, thus contributing to the greenhouse effect.

As the immense ice layer receded, new points of crustal rupture emerged (due to the release of its weight), leading to the appearance of even more volcanoes. These, through processes of "extreme thermal contact," further decomposed water, releasing even more oxygen (including processes forming hydrogen peroxide—oxygenated water, under the massive action of ultraviolet rays, which, once the ice mantle melted, led to the release of immense amounts of oxygen).

This process lasted until about 550-600 million years ago, and Rodinia separated into the continents, allowing Earth to escape the "embrace" of ice. By this time, a day lasted 22 hours, ocean currents reappeared, temperatures were similar to those of today, everything stabilized, and the history of life as most of us know it began, marked by the so-called "Cambrian Explosion."

Now, the oceans truly became "the cradle of life." Algae quickly shifted to photosynthesis processes, and multicellular life forms multiplied, especially represented by worms (some exhibiting armor), while sponges and corals intensified their presence. Thus, what seemed a ruin for life proved to be an environment where life could continue to evolve without issue.

At this time, it seems life encompassed everything in an astonishing diversity of forms, primarily at the aquatic level (land being virtually unpopulated). It is claimed that there existed as many species then as all the species that followed throughout "subsequent times."

The evolutionary "experiments" of life at this stage established the foundation for all forms of life that would originate here in the Cambrian.

The high oxygen levels in the oceans that triggered this explosion of life would also lead to changes in the atmosphere. For the next 100 million years, oxygen levels reached those of today, enabling the formation of the ozone layer, which became an additional barrier against solar radiation. The reduction of solar radiation aggression (which effectively sterilized the unprotected surface of water, hence the land) prompted the "rise" of life on land (around 400 million years ago).

This process predominantly involved plant forms, fungi, and molds, while animal forms were represented by adaptations of marine life, such as mollusks, crustaceans, and armored worms that developed a sort of primitive vertebrate column (the precursor worms of Pikaia gracilens) and the first craniates (notably the Haikouichthys group). But all in due time...

It's worth noting that around 460 million years ago, the Earth "moved" significantly, giving rise to a new continent, Gondwana. Temperatures on the continent recorded maximums of only 90 degrees Celsius, oxygen was present in current proportions, and the land was still nearly "barren."

This was because the ozone layer had not yet reached the minimum thickness required to protect life on land from harmful solar radiation. However, by around 370 million years ago, this layer reached optimal protective thickness, and the explosion of life on land could no longer be halted.

From this moment on, algae began to slowly but surely populate the "true" shores of the oceans and the "depression" zones of the land, fueled by considerable "massive" rains, evolving into the future plants of the Carboniferous. As a result of this evolution, they emitted more and more oxygen into the atmosphere, allowing other forms of life to evolve as well.

At this time, Pikaia and its "relatives" were among the first fish in the ocean. From here, fish began to be ubiquitous in seas, oceans, lakes, etc., slowly forming the current oil reserves alongside other creatures.

Then, in just 10 million years (around 360 million years ago), the first "coastal" fish, like Tiktaalik and its relatives, became the first tetrapods (amphibians), in a true explosion of land population...

Another significant emergence is represented by the presence of insects, arthropods, etc., which seem to have evolved gradually (adaptation) from the aquatic environment to the terrestrial one. It is important to note that due to the much higher oxygen content in the atmosphere, this was a period of gigantic insects, with dragonflies the size of eagles and scorpions the size of wolves, and so on...

There is also a significant detail regarding the evolution of plants, represented by their adaptation from spore reproduction to seed reproduction.

Thus, within 50-60 million years (up to around 300 million years ago), plants completely populated Earth's surface, creating a world of tropical marshes. This period is known as the "Carboniferous," characterized by tropical forests that would last for the next 60 million years.

Evidence of their presence can be found everywhere on Earth in the form of coal deposits. This period also delineated the majority of the oil and gas deposits found on Earth. It was a time of carbon cleansing and storage deep within the Earth. At this point, the first complete form of the biosphere was formed.

Now is also the time when the first ancestors of reptiles (Hylonomus lyelli) appeared on Earth's surface, no longer laying eggs in water like fish and amphibians, but beginning to lay eggs on land.

A massive volcanic eruption occurred in the current Siberian region, lasting for an entire million years, resulting in a true mass extinction (the Permian extinction), around 250 million years ago.

Clouds of toxic gases spread across the Earth, blocking sunlight with volcanic ash clouds and increasing levels of CO2 and CH4 (methane—a gas with a much more dramatic effect than CO2), leading to atmospheric overheating (estimated to reach temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius), causing the extinction of over 95% of existing life forms, while acid rains devastated nearly everything on land, and ocean waters turned pink due to the proliferation of pink algae.

However, "Pink Earth" did not last long and did not manifest globally, unlike other "colors," but only at the level of the seas and oceans of that time.

Thus, a new supercontinent named "Pangaea" formed. The climate gradually changed, becoming favorable to "global" life again around 240 million years ago. Temperatures normalized, vegetation reclaimed Earth, and terrestrial life resumed its "global" evolution.

Now it was the time of reptiles, of dinosaurs, the largest creatures that ever existed (apparently due to the very high oxygen content in the atmosphere, allowing for easier oxygenation of large organisms, coupled with abundant food sources).

Around 180-190 million years ago, the great supercontinent was "split" by volcanic activity, forming the Tethys Sea, beginning the separation of continents that moved toward the shapes we recognize today. Volcanic activity continued, and there appears to have been a significant global warming phenomenon, with CO2 levels rising to over 40% of the atmospheric composition, "sustaining" the development of tropical forests. Evidence of massive volcanic activity, particularly around 100 million years ago, is found in the diamond deposits existing on Earth.

A new explosion of life in all its splendor occurred, with all forms of life developing "indifferently" to the dominance of the dinosaurs...

Then came the moment, 65 million years ago, of the famous asteroid impact that completely destabilized the ecosystem of that time and extinguished the "spirit" of the dinosaurs (as well as 75% of all life forms then).

Evidence of these events lies within geological strata (therefore referred to as "tombstones," "the K-T boundary") that are "full" of a rare element on Earth, iridium, which is commonly found in asteroids/meteors (rocks originating from space).

This geological layer is accompanied by a crater nearly 200 km in diameter near Mexico, dating back to that time, which confirms the impact of a meteorite about 10 kilometers in diameter (the size of Mount Everest). This impact was exacerbated by a significant increase in volcanic activity, thus manifesting the full "power" of this extinction.

However, life gradually began to recover around 50 million years ago. This was the time of mammals… and of humans. The continents shifted toward their current form…

And now, 2-4 million years ago, the "official" ancestors of humans emerged. It was also the time when "glacial manifestations" appeared. These resulted from the unification of North and South America through the Isthmus of Panama. This union disrupted ocean currents in that transit zone and triggered glacial climatic phenomena.

Finally, the last 70-80,000 years belong to the "development" of humans with all that they brought with them...

Conclusions?!?

Earth, as we know it now, may offer new disasters, new extinctions... It is a planet like any other, subject to "external" disasters (as you will see in the following materials)... But, each time, life has continued, even with major changes... Yes, Earth goes about its business, regardless of the life forms on it, always starting anew...

That is why we created this Universe... For time, for evolution through "life"...

Isn't this a conclusion too?!?

Love and understanding!

Merticaru Dorin Nicolae