How the Atmosphere Formed

4,500 million years ago, the Earth formed a atmosphere made primarily of carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, ammonia, and nitrogen (PBS, 2014).  It was originally thought that these gases came from inside the earth and were released out of volcanoes, but many scientists are disagreeing (University of Manchester, 2009) . Researchers from Imperial College London looked at fifteen different meteorites and found that each meteor released 12% of its mass as water vapor and 6% as carbon dioxide when it entered our atmosphere. These researchers then calculated that 10 billion tons of water vapor, and an equal amount of carbon dioxide were brought to earth each year during the Late Heavy Bombardment. This carbon dioxide may have helped create a greenhouse effect, warm the planet, and keep the water liquid (Imperial College London, 2014).


References:

Atkinson, N. (n.d.). Earth’s Universe Came From Outer Space. Retrieved from Universe Today website: http://www.universetoday.com/47331/earths-atmosphere-came-from-outer-space/


Earth’s Early Atmosphere. (n.d.). Retrieved from Astrobiology Magazine website: http://www.astrobio.net/topic/solar-system/earth/geology/earths-early-atmosphere/


How did the earths atmosphere form? (n.d.). Retrieved from SciJinks website: http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/atmosphere-formation/


Jozefowics, C. (2006, February 10). The New World: geologists are drawing a new picture of the young Earth’s appearance. Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication, 91(11), 8+. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/MagazinesDetailsPage/MagazinesDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=SCIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Magazines&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=SCIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA142433110&source=Bookmark&u=atla25856&jsid=ff1602d066377fa4e8af04794fcc2c5a


Meteorite Gas Helped Make Earth Green. (n.d.). Retrieved from Imperial College London website: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/aboutese/hottopic/pasttopics/meteorite%20gas


University of Manchester. (2009, December 11). Earth’s atmosphere came from outer space, scientists find. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 12, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210153538.htm