Article
Article
Hadean
Article By:
Taylor, Stuart Ross Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Last reviewed:June 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.757573
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The period extending for several hundred million years from the formation of the Earth, probably around 4500 million years ago (MYA) to the first known occurrence of a preserved rock record around 4000 MYA. The length of the Hadean is comparable to that of the Phanerozoic. The absence of an unequivocal rock record has not prevented—indeed, has encouraged—speculation about the nature of the Hadean Earth (see illustration).
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