Documentary "How the Earth was Made"

Stromatolites filled the atmosphere with this gas.

The light density granite caused it to float on the denser molten _ of the Earth.

A stone formation in the Canadian Rockies rich in Cambrian fossils.

180 million years ago this split apart. _

Fossils of this fresh-water animal found on different continents, indicating they had moved.

The connection of North and South America blocked ocean current and permitted these.

    The oldest fossils, they were formed by cyanobacteria. _

Evidence of continental drift may be found on this island.

The period that the Earth froze; caused by Rodinia blocking currents of warm water in oceans.

By 4 billion years ago _ of the Earth was a vast iron-rich hot green ocean.

He calculated the age of the Earth on radioactive dating of the decay of uranium into lead.

Without the burning of Earth’s core, life would not be able to survive.

Stone formed when lava solidifies under deep water. The oldest date the formation of the oceans

The formation of this in the atmosphere permitted life on land.

Continents were mainly formed from this stone. It was created by undersea volcanoes. _

The radioactive element used by Arthur Holmes to calculate the ago of the Earth. _

    The oxygen-rich atmosphere allowed these to grow to several feet long. _

What is this? (Picture © Sam Gon III via Wikimedia Commons.)

The Australian beach where stromatolites may be found. _

A top paleontologist, he discovered the fossils in the Burgess Shale.

Formed from plant matter decomposing in freshwater swamps around 200 to 300 million years ago.

    Snowball Earth melted because of _.

    The thickness of the ice sheet during Snowball Earth. _

Who used thermodynamics to miscalculate that the Earth was about 20,000 years old?

    The natural process that raises mountains. _

250 mya volcanic eruptions in Siberia lasting a million years created this mass extinction. _

Earth’s core will one day cool and share the fate of Mars

The theory that the continents move over the mantle of the Earth. _

    The natural process that lowers mountains. _

A period, 359.2 to 299 million years ago, when large plants dominated a steamy, swampy Earth. _

Crystals that date the presence of water on Earth from the uranium they contain. _

The current scientific estimate of the age of the Earth. _

    A desolate, lifeless supercontinent formed about a billion years ago. _

    The approximate distance that Europe and North America move apart each year. _

    The study of the movement of the continents. _

Connects North and South America.

This mountain shows the combination of the European and African continental plates.

The collision of Africa and Europe produced this mountain chain. _

A new supercontinent is predicted to form _ in the future.

This force of nature kept Earth warmer than Kelvin expected, throwing off his age of Earth. _

The Earth formed from collisions of these. _

Dinosaurs are described as _-blooded.

Scientists believe that we are living between 2 ice ages

    The next ice age is predicted for _ in the future.

A rare element deposited by meteors. It dates the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Molten material in the Earth rises to surface and erupts; caused Permian Extinction.

    Around 231 million years ago these animals first appeared on Earth. _

The increased levels of oxygen in the oceans removed much of this element through rusting.

Pangea began to split into the current set of continents around _.

    The time when the atmosphere and oceans were oxygenated.

The burst of new life forms about 500 million years ago following Snowball Earth.

541 to 485.4 million years ago, that modern life forms are first evident in the fossil record.

Formed during the Carboniferous Period.

Gemstones brought to the surface of the Earth by volcanic activity.

    The new supercontinent formed around 299 million years ago.

This eroded as the Colorado River moved over elevated land. _

The last ice age ended _.

Formed as glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age.