In infancy, about 4 billion years ago, Earth was just not what we#39;re used to it now. She, according to U.S. scientists who looked like a moon of Jupiter - Io.
Io is the most active body in our solar system, such as volcanic activity. With the help of regular and very frequent volcanic eruptions, he gets rid of the enormous heat. Astronomers believe that each year covered volcanoes of Io thick layer of lava nearly 1 centimeter.
In early childhood Earth, most likely, has gone through a period of development. Our planet was formed by the merger of many small planetary bodies about 4.5 billion years ago. These collisions produced a huge amount of thermal energy. The same result has been, and the subsequent release of the metallic core of the planet and the decay of radioactive elements.
As a result of all this ancient land is allocated significantly more heat than it is now. According to scientists, is 5-10 times higher. The period of high seismic activity lasted almost one and a half billion years old and over, approximately 3.1 billion years ago.
However, the lithosphere in the early days was quite thick and cold. If the main source of the heat was tectonic activity, the lithosphere would be less cool and thick. 4 billion years ago, the thermal energy in the world in the same way as it is now on Io, Jupiter#39;s moon, coming out through the volcanic pipes, says Nature. Now, for example, allocates Io heat to 40 times greater than the planet, even though it is more than three times its downward. By the conclusion of the similarity of the ancient Earth and Io current drawn by researchers at Louisiana State University, led by Professor Alexander Webb.
