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1. If the Big Bang did occur, all of the objects within the Universe should be
moving away from each other. In 1929, Edwin Hubble documented that the
galaxies in our Universe are indeed moving away from each other.
2. The Big Bang should have left an "afterglow" from the explosion. In the
1960s, scientists discovered the existence of cosmic background radiation, the
so-called "afterglow" after the Big Bang explosion. Our most accurate
measurements of this cosmic radiation came in November 1989, by the Cosmic
Background Explorer (COBE) satellite. The measurements from this satellite
tested an important prediction of the Big Bang theory. This prediction suggests
that the initial explosion that gave birth to the Universe should have created
radiation with a spectrum that follows a blackbody curve. The COBE
measurements indicated that the spectrum of the cosmic radiation varied from a
blackbody curve by only 1%. This level of error is considered insignificant.
3. If the Universe began with a Big Bang, extreme temperatures should have
caused 25 percent of the mass of the Universe to become helium. This is
exactly what is observed.
4. Matter in the Universe should be distributed homogeneously. Astronomical
observations from the Hubble Space Telescope do indicate that matter in the
Universe generally has a homogeneous distribution.
Cosmologists have postulated two endings to the Universe. If the Universe is infinite
or has no edge, it should continue to expand forever. A Universe that is finite or
closed is theorized to collapse when expansion stops because of gravity. The collapse
of the Universe ends when all matter and energy is compressed into the high energy,
high-density state from which it began. This scenario is of course called the Big
Crunch. Some theorists have suggested that the Big Crunch will produce a new Big
Bang and the process of an expanding Universe will begin again. This idea is called
the oscillating Universe theory.
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Early 4.4 to 4.0 H2O, hydrogen Lighter gases like
Atmosphere cyanide (HCN), hydrogen and
ammonia (NH3), helium escaped to
methane (CH4), space.
sulfur, iodine,
bromine, chlorine, All water was held
argon in the atmosphere
as vapor because
of high
temperatures.
Secondary 4.0 to 3.3 At 4.0 billion Continued release
Atmosphere H2O, CO2, and of gases from the
nitrogen (N) lithosphere.
dominant. Cooling
of the atmosphere Water vapor
causes clouds common in
precipitation and the lower
the development atmosphere.
of the oceans.
Chemosynthetic
By 3.0 billion bacteria appear on
CO2, H2O, N2 the Earth some
dominant. O2 time between 3.9
begins to and 3.5 billion
accumulate. years ago. Life
begins to modify
the atmosphere.
Living 3.3 to Present N2 - 78%, O2 - Development,
Atmosphere 21%, Argon - evolution and
0.9%, CO2 - growth of life
0.036% increases the
quantity of
oxygen in the
atmosphere from
<1% to 21%.
Humans begin
modifying the
concentrations of
some gases in the
atmosphere
beginning around
the year 1700.
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As the Earth continued to cool, the water vapor found in the atmosphere condensed to
form the oceans and other fresh water bodies on the continents. Oxygen began
accumulating in the atmosphere through photo-dissociation of O2 from water, and by
way of photosynthesis (life). The emergence of living organisms was extremely
important in the creation of atmospheric oxygen and ozone. Without ozone, life could
not exist on land because of harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Most of the build up of oxygen in the atmosphere occurred between 2.1 and 1.5
billion years ago as a direct result of photosynthesis from ocean based plants like
algae. At about 450 million years ago, there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere to
allow for the development of a stratospheric ozone layer that was thick enough to
keep terrestrial life protected from ultraviolet radiation. As a result, terrestrial life
began its development and expansion at this time. Table 5b-2 describes the timing of
the evolutionary development of some of the Earth's dominant forms of life before
and after 450 million years before present (BP).
Table 5b-2: Approximate origin time of the major plant and animal groups.
Lithosphere - describes the solid inorganic portion of the Earth (composed of rocks,
minerals and elements). It can be regarded as the outer surface and interior of the
solid Earth. On the surface of the Earth, the lithosphere is composed of three main
types of rocks:
Atmosphere - is the vast gaseous envelope of air that surrounds the Earth. Its
boundaries are not easily defined. The atmosphere contains a complex system of gases
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and suspended particles that behave in many ways like fluids. Many of its constituents
are derived from the Earth by way of chemical and biochemical reactions.
Hydrosphere - describes the waters of the Earth (see the hydrologic cycle). Water
exists on the Earth in various stores, including the atmosphere, oceans, lakes, rivers,
soils, glaciers, and groundwater. Water moves from one store to another by way of:
evaporation, condensation, runoff, precipitation, infiltration and groundwater
flow.
Biosphere - consists of all living things, plant and animal. This zone is characterized
by life in profusion, diversity, and ingenious complexity. Cycling of matter in this
sphere involves not only metabolic reactions in organisms, but also many abiotic
chemical reactions.
All of these spheres are interrelated to each other by dynamic interactions, like
biogeochemical cycling, that move and exchange both matter and energy between the
four components.
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This theory is important to Physical Geography and other Earth Sciences for the
following reasons:
The Gaia theory suggests that the abiotic and biotic environment is made up of
many complex interrelationships;
Many of these complex interrelationships are quite delicate and may be altered
by human activity to a breaking point; and
The theory suggests that humans must learn to respect Gaia by reducing their
intentional modification of the Earth's abiotic and biotic components.