What creates an Atmosphere?

Question

How was Earth's atmosphere created?

Answer 1

many chemical reactions produce gas of any kind. if a mass is creating gravity, those gases would result atracted towards it. Since gases are usually lighter than solids they would concentrate oer the outer surface of the mass forming an atmosphere. The quality of such atmosphere would depend on too many factors. Photosynthesis was an important factor in the formation of our atmosphere.

Answer 2

The Earth's atmosphere is created and maintained by the various chemical processes occurring on and in the Earth. Any gas that reaches the atmosphere, automatically becomes part of that atmosphere. Gravity keeps these gases in a, relatively, even bubble around the planet.

Plants take up Carbon Dioxide and produce Oxygen, Volcanoes spew Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide. Evaporation releases water vapor into the air.

When the planet was first formed, there was a balance of chemical reactions that caused the first atmosphere to form from those product gases. As time progresses, and the makeup of the Planet changes, plants grow, Tectonic Plates shift, Volcanoes go active or dormant, the cycle of these chemical processes change...changing the equilibrium of the atmosphere.

It is a fascinating beast, isn't it?

Answer 3

It is what happens when you drill a hole into something. When the stuff you drilled comes out of the hole, all this stuff called gas and air rush in there to fill the hole back up. Otherwise when we dug holes for trees and stuff, there would be nothing in the hole but a vacuum. That's what creates an atmosphere; people digging holes.

Now all this air and gas and stuff has weight, not much, but it does really weigh something. A whole lot of it weighs a whole bunch, like if you look straight up outside, how tall is that? Wow, five miles up, or maybe ten miles? that is a lot of air and gas. And it weighs a lot. and, heavy things want to fall down because of gravity and all. So, when gas is formed it hangs around and goes down, like toward the earth's surface, if it can, because it is heavy (once it cools off).

Depending upon whom you listen to, the original source of the present atmosphere was created by God, by Allah, by Budda, or came from the cataclysmic formation of the earth and the result of burning all the materials within the earth over many, many years down in the core.

We could suggest that Sponge Bob made the gases, but my guess is we would be laughed out of the room.

Answer 4

An atmosphere is simply the presence of gas, or lack there of, around a planets surface. Earth has a lot of gas (nitrogen, oxygen, Carbon dioxide, argon, etc.) either 1) because they were present at the birth of our planet, 2) they were released by chemical reactions on our planet, or 3) were attracted to Earth and caught by our planets gravity well.

Answer 5

It was originally just composed of the substanes the Earth formed out of that were gaseous under those temperatures. Some things floated and some things didn't float. However, after life evolved and developed photosynthesis, the atmosphere quickly changed as the carbon dioxide was leached out and replaced with oxygen. We owe the modern composition of our atmosphere, and indeed the development of complex animal life, to the photosynthetic processes of ancient algae.

Answer 6

You would need gases (nitrogen, methane, etc) and gravity of the planet strong enough to hold them close to the surface of it.

Answer 7

gravity holding what ever gases close to the surface of a body. then something to produce the gases.

Answer 8

according to my earth science class in college, volcanic activity