Earth’s Earliest Atmospheres

Journal List Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol v.2(10); 2010 Oct PMC2944365 As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health. Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2010 Oct; 2(10): a004895. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a004895PMCID: PMC2944365PMID: 20573713Kevin Zahnle,1 Laura Schaefer,2 and Bruce Fegley2Author information Copyright and License information PMC DisclaimerAbstractEarth is the one known example of an inhabited planet and to current knowledge the likeliest site of the one known origin of life. Here we discuss the origin of Earth’s atmosphere and ocean and some of the environmental conditions of the early Earth as they may relate to the origin of life. A key punctuating event in the narrative is the Moon-forming impact, partly because it made Earth for a short time absolutely uninhabitable, and...