how did the oceans form? (scientific answer)?

Answer 1

How did the Oceans form?

The oceans formed on Earth 3.8 billion years ago. At this time the Solar System was about 1 billion years old. To explain the formation of the oceans, it is necessary to briefly discuss the evolution of the Solar System.

The Solar System started as a swirling cloud of dust and gases. The dust and gas particles aggregated into bodies that became the Sun, planets, comets, and asteroids. The planets closest to the Sun are the most dense and consist mostly of rock and metal. These terrestrial planets include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, are called the jovian planets. They are primarily composed of gases and ice, and are less dense than the terrestrial planets.

4 billion years ago, the Earth could be described as a very large, hot rock without a trace of water on its surface. Water on the young Earth came from two sources, outgassing from within the Earth and bombardment by comets. Outgassing is the process whereby gases are released from molten rock in the mantle of the planet by volcanic activity. This was probably the primary source of gases for the early atmosphere. Comets and meterorites also bring with them gases which contributed to the Earth's atmosphere.

Some of the gases in the new atmosphere were methane (CH3), ammonia (NH3), water vapor (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2). The water on Earth stayed in gaseous form until the planet's surface cooled below 100 degrees Celsius. At this time, 3.8 billion years ago, water condensed into rain and poured onto the land. Water collected in low lying areas which gradually became the primitive oceans.

As water entered the oceans from the atmosphere, it brought with it dissolved gasses released from the mantle by volcanoes and geysers. Water also flowed as runoff from the land, bringing in dissolved minerals from the rocks on the surface. These minerals include the salts which make seawater taste salty.

The geochemical cycles had their beginnings here, with minerals entering the oceans from the land and sky and minerals leaving the oceans through tectonic activity and by evaporation/deposition processes. These cycles were well established about 1 billion years ago. Since then the overall composition of the oceans (chemically, that is) has remained very constant.

Answer 2

The face of the Earth is always changing and throughout geologic history oceans have been created and destroyed. Modern geologic evidence indicates that the ocean bottom is moving at a rate from about one-half to six inches a year through a process called plate tectonics.


CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Pangaea broke up with part of the continent drifting north and part south. 1) The northern part split to form the North Atlantic Ocean 208-146 million years ago (mya). 2) The South Atlantic and Indian oceans began to form 146-65 mya. 3) The continents continue to drift. Today the oceans are still changing shape; the Atlantic Ocean gets wider by a few inches each year.

Roughly 200 million years ago the Earth's surface was very different from the familiar pattern of land we know today. All of the land masses were grouped together into one vast supercontinent called Pangaea. The rest of the globe was covered by a single great ocean known as Panthalassa.

Slowly, over millions of years, the great land mass split apart. The pieces began to move over the Earth's surface driven by slowly churning currents in the molten rocks beneath the Earth's hard outer layers. The gigantic plates on the Earth's crust move like a conveyor belt. As new areas of ocean floor form at mid-ocean ridges, old areas are dragged down, or subducted, into the Earth's mantle, which explains why the older rocks cannot be found.



By about 35 million years ago the pattern of land and sea was very much like it is today. But the continents are still moving and as the Atlantic and Indian oceans continue to get wider by a few inches every year, the Pacific is slowly shrinking. At the northeast corner of Africa we can see the start of a new ocean. For the last 25 million years, the Red Sea has been widening. If it continues at the same rate, in 200 million years it will be as wide as the Atlantic is today.

THE CHANGING OCEANS
Some related sites of interest

The Pangaea Theory
The Pangaea theory was treated with much skepticism when it was first raised. But since then, there has been much evidence to support this theory.
Hydrothermal Vents
Tour a hydrothermal vent system as scientists might encounter along the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the Pacific Ocean.
Submarine Volcanoes
The most productive volcanic systems on Earth are hidden under the ocean. The magma and lava of submarine volcanoes create the edges of new oceanic plates.
Hot Stuff
Volcanoes, mid-oceanic ridges, and deep-sea vents are all associated with sea floor spreading and plate tectonics. They are also the newest places on Earth. Locate the Earth's "hot spots" in this activity.

Answer 3

Genesis Chapter 1 verse 6 And God said, "Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below. 7,8 So God made the sky, dividing the vapor above from the water below. This all happened on the second day. 9,10 Then God said, "Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into oceans so that the dry land will emerge." And so it was. Then God named the dry land "earth" and the water 'seas." And God was pleased.

This makes more since that there is a creator who knows what he is doing than that by chaotic accident all this just happened to fall into place. Our Heavenly Father is the Master Scientist.

Answer 4

1.At first the water formed from gas like Hydrogen & oxigen.
2.Gravity force is attracting all the particle towards the center of earth
3.So the water concentrated the place which is very near to earth`s center.(ie ocean is more depth than land)

Answer 5

I am with Jay C , just to add a comment. it is thought the initial water itself came from the earth being bombarded by many comets in the early stages of its formation . Comets are in effect enormous snowballs, ie the greater part of their composition is ice. It is amazing how much water vapour does in fact come from volcanoes, especially those violent "andesitic" types.

Answer 6

Earth has exceed water precipation that flows through the higher grounds and accumulated at the lower region of the earth's crust.

because this liquid water runs through land, it dissolve minerals and carry it. As years and years of this occurance, the pool of water becomes salty. That forms the ocean.

Thank you!! Thank you for reading...

Answer 7

Yes Jay C is correct, but that leaves you to wonder how volcanoes were formed.... the metal (rocks) that form Earth created energy that broke themselves down to form the energy that is volcanoes/lava....then where did the metals come form... the big bang, dark energy....ask Einstein or some one similar

Answer 8

Volcanos spewed forth gasses, the gasses formed atmosphere and clouds which formed water which precipitated on the earth..

Answer 9

http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/oceans/ocean1.html

Answer 10

please refer to tecnotic plate . interior pressure caused ccntinent take apart from together and space between them filled with watter.