AQA · Chemistry · 8462
GCSE Chemistry: The Earth's early atmosphere
Chemistry of the atmosphere · AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462), specification point 4.9.1.2. Cards are generated from the exam board's own specification for "The Earth's early atmosphere", and every card links back to the page it came from. Specification © AQA — used with attribution.
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Why is evidence for the Earth's early atmosphere limited?
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Because of the huge time scale involved — the Earth is about 4.6 billion years old.
How old is the Earth, according to the AQA GCSE Chemistry spec?
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About 4.6 billion years.
What process released the gases that formed the Earth's early atmosphere?
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Intense volcanic activity during the first billion years of the Earth's existence.
How did the Earth's oceans form?
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Water vapour released by volcanoes condensed to form the oceans.
Which gas made up most of the Earth's early atmosphere?
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Carbon dioxide, with little or no oxygen.
Which two planets' atmospheres today resemble the Earth's early atmosphere?
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Mars and Venus — both are mainly carbon dioxide with little or no oxygen.
Volcanoes also produced ?, which gradually built up in the early atmosphere.
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nitrogen
Which two gases may have been present in small proportions in the Earth's early atmosphere?
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Methane and ammonia.
How did the formation of the oceans reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide?
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Carbon dioxide dissolved in the ocean water, and carbonates were precipitated, forming sediments.
When the early oceans formed, dissolved carbon dioxide was locked away as precipitated ? that produced sediments.
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carbonates
How much oxygen was in the Earth's early atmosphere?
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Little or none.
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