(1) Earth formation period (about 4.6 billion years ago): Earth and other planets, the moon, meteorites, etc. They were all formed at the same time about 4.6 billion years ago, and they were the products of condensation and collapse of the original nebula in the solar system.
(2) radiation melting period (4.5 billion ~ 4 1 100 million years ago): the earth was not completely melted in the early stage. The deep heterogeneity layer is relatively perfect, while the shallow part retains more radioactive materials, which becomes an important power source for the later crustal movement and internal heterogeneity.
(3) collision period of small celestial bodies (4 1 100 million years to 3.9 billion years ago): due to the large mass of the earth, it was hit by many large small celestial bodies, forming large pits and depressions.
(4) Melting overflow period (3.9 billion ~ 3.7 billion years ago): Due to the thin crust, the crust will rupture under the impact of small celestial bodies, and molten materials will overflow along the fracture zone.
(5) plate tectonic development period (3.7 billion years ago to present): This is unique in the history of geological development. The impact of the above-mentioned small celestial bodies not only affects the rupture of the crust and the overflow of molten flow, but also affects the mantle layer, because its high plasticity and high temperature lead to the convection of a large number of substances and form the asthenosphere. In the early stage of plate tectonics, the rock layer was still very thin, and the plates were still small and numerous; With the passage of time, the strata become thicker, the plates become larger and more concentrated, and the overall activity level decreases, entering the stage of modern plate activity.
The above knowledge is obtained by combining the knowledge of geophysics, astronomy and comparative planetology. From the formation of the earth to the active period of plate tectonics, it is only a few hundred million years (less than 65.438 billion years).
If we regard the earth as a star in the cosmic space and examine the changes of the earth from the overall evolution of the universe, we can see that the combination of cosmic factors and the earth's own factors can explain more observational facts.