What Was the Hadean Eon?
The Hadean eon refers to the earliest geological epoch of Earth’s history, from the formation of the planet about 4,500 million years ago, to the beginning of the Archean period, 3,800 million years ago. The name “Hadean eon” is derived from the word Hades, the Greek word for Hell or “unseen”. It is commonly thought that the Hadean landscape was a lava-filled, meteorite-bombarded, lifeless place, but some scientists believe that this characterization is somewhat of an exaggeration, and that at least around the end of the Hadean eon, the Earth wasn’t as hellish as some might think. The fact is that we have relatively scarce evidence about the conditions on Earth at that time, relative to any other era. The beginning of the Hadean eon was certainly a harsh place. It is when the Earth was nothing but a condensed portion of the accretion disk that made up the early Solar System. Over millions of years, this condensed portion started to chunk together by the mutual attraction of gravity, an
The Hadean eon refers to the earliest geological epoch of Earth’s history, from the formation of the planet about 4,500 million years ago, to the beginning of the Archean period, 3,800 million years ago. The name “Hadean eon†is derived from the word Hades, the Greek word for Hell or “unseen†. It is commonly thought that the Hadean landscape was a lava-filled, meteorite-bombarded, lifeless place, but some scientists believe that this characterization is somewhat of an exaggeration, and that at least around the end of the Hadean eon, the Earth wasn’t as hellish as some might think. The fact is that we have relatively scarce evidence about the conditions on Earth at that time, relative to any other era. The beginning of the Hadean eon was certainly a harsh place. It is when the Earth was nothing but a condensed portion of the accretion disk that made up the early Solar System. Over millions of years, this condensed portion started to chunk together by the mutual attraction of
The Hadean eon refers to the earliest geological epoch of Earth’s history, from the formation of the planet about 4,500 million years ago, to the beginning of the Archean period, 3,800 million years ago. The name “Hadean eon?is derived from the word Hades, the Greek word for Hell or “unseen? It is commonly thought that the Hadean landscape was a lava-filled, meteorite-bombarded, lifeless place, but some scientists believe that this characterization is somewhat of an exaggeration, and that at least around the end of the Hadean eon, the Earth wasn’t as hellish as some might think. The fact is that we have relatively scarce evidence about the conditions on Earth at that time, relative to any other era. The beginning of the Hadean eon was certainly a harsh place. It is when the Earth was nothing but a condensed portion of the accretion disk that made up the early Solar System. Over millions of years, this condensed portion started to chunk together by the mutual attraction of gravity, and
