Earth forms
Dust and rock clump together into a planet
See it on the timeline →In depth
Earth grew by accretion within the disc of gas and dust around the young Sun, over perhaps 10–20 million years. Energy from impacts and radioactive decay kept the surface molten for long stretches. Heavy elements such as iron sank inward to form the core, while lighter silicates were left behind as mantle and crust — a process called differentiation, and the source of both the magnetic field and the plate tectonics we depend on today.
For children
A huge cloud of dust and rock swirled around the newborn Sun. The pieces crashed into each other and stuck together, over and over, until they formed a ball big enough to have its own gravity. That ball is Earth. It was red hot and had no oceans at all.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org