How does the volcanism of earth earth compare with today?
1 Answer
I assume you meant, "early Earth" in this question. During Earth's formation, some 4.56 billion years ago, the planet underwent extreme volcanism compared to today.
Explanation:
When the Earth formed some 4.56 billion year ago it was mostly hot magma and then a large "Mars sized" proto-planet collided with early Earth. The Earth absorbed much of this photo-planet and the remainder spun off and formed the moon. For the next 500 million years or so, the Earth was dominated by intense volcanism - much more than today. It was also bombarded by stray asteroids and comets from the early formation of the solar system. Once plate tectonics kicked in around 3.5-4.0 billion years, volcanism was probably more subdued and not unlike what we have today.
See pic of what an artist and scientist think the early Earth may have looked like. The moon was much closer to Earth at this time.
