Earth's Past

Life on Earth progressed slowly until the last hundred thousand years^[1], when it evolved into a conscious state^[2] and became humanity. At this point, life was still in its early developmental stage, allowing players to experience the unique journey of early life.

This early form of life is rare, as it quickly encounters bottlenecks for both internal and external development. If these bottlenecks cannot be overcome, life will come to a halt and eventually face extinction. If the bottlenecks are breached, life will accelerate in its development and its existence will be significantly prolonged. However, in either case, the time life spends in a conscious state can be said to be fleeting. ^[3]

We will elaborate on the characteristics of humanity in the chapter on Human Traits.

Here is what you need to know about Earth.

Formation

The solar system where Earth resides is a very young stellar system, located on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, approximately 20 years old measured in solar years^[4] (formed about 4.6 billion years ago).

The sun has a radius of about 695,000 km (109 times that of Earth). Its mass is approximately 330,000 times that of Earth, accounting for about 99.86% of the total mass of the solar system. The composition of the sun, by mass, is approximately: Hydrogen H (73%), Helium He (25%), with the remaining being Oxygen (1%), Carbon, Neon, and other heavier elements.

The sun is a G dwarf star (type GV main sequence star^[5]), formed through the gravitational collapse of material from a massive hydrogen molecular cloud zone (triggered by the shock waves of one or more nearby supernovae). Most of the material coalesced in the center, while the rest swirled and flattened into a protoplanetary disk, evolving into the solar system.

Almost simultaneously with the formation of the sun, Earth was formed (about 4.54 billion years ago); at that time, Earth’s only satellite, the Moon, was also formed (approximately 4.53 billion years ago).

The solar system is currently in its most stable phase. About 5 billion years from now, hydrogen depletion due to nuclear fusion will cause the sun to leave the main sequence and become a red giant, at which point the sun will expand massively, with a diameter 250 times larger than it is now, enough to engulf the inner planets of the solar system, including Earth.

In its early formation, Earth was a molten sphere, still experiencing various impacts from celestial bodies (the late heavy bombardment period). The geological environment was extremely unstable, but it was precisely this environment that favored the emergence of life in the primitive state.

Until about 4 billion years ago (this period is called the Hadean eon ^[6]), the Earth's surface began to cool and solidify, gradually forming hard rock, while gases released by volcanic eruptions formed a secondary atmosphere. The initial atmosphere may have been composed of water vapor^[7], carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. The evaporation of water vapor accelerated the cooling of the surface, leading to rain for thousands and thousands of years, filling basins and forming oceans. The heavy rains reduced the amount of water vapor in the air while washing away much of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The Earth’s environment gradually stabilized, and during this process, basic state life began to appear. This period is called the Archean eon ^[8].

Like many planets in the universe, Earth is also a life-friendly planet. Not long after its formation, it possessed the conditions necessary for life to develop and eventually evolved into conscious life—humans.

Environmental Changes

Many factors can influence Earth's environment, with temperature being the most important and obvious indicator. Temperature is also the most sensitive indicator for life on Earth.

After the Archean, even though the geological conditions of Earth (including land, oceans, and atmosphere) stabilized, temperatures still fluctuated periodically, albeit not drastically (with average temperature fluctuations around ±10°C), significantly impacting the environment and life.

Long-term low temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere and surface resulted in significant expansions of polar and mountain ice caps, even covering entire continents during glacial periods. Since Earth's formation, there have been at least five major ice ages.

Huronian Glaciation

The geological era following the end of the Archean is known as the Proterozoic, starting with the first ice age (the Huronian glaciation) about 2.5 billion years ago and ending around 542 million years ago.

The Huronian glaciation is the most severe and longest-lasting ice age in Earth’s history (lasting for 300 million years). It may have been triggered by the Great Oxidation Event ^[9]. After the Huronian glaciation, Earth experienced a stable temperature period lasting 1.4 billion years, during which life on Earth evolved slowly and steadily.

Cryogenian Glaciation

Lasting from 720 million years ago to 630 million years ago (for about 90 million years), Earth became a "snowball Earth," where polar ice caps expanded to the equator, freezing the oceans completely and encapsulating the entire planet in ice.

Carbon dioxide released by volcanic eruptions gradually accumulated due to the inability of Earth’s biota to photosynthesize, leading to a greenhouse effect that allowed Earth to emerge from its frozen state.

Following this, the Proterozoic ended with the Cambrian Explosion ^[10], marking the beginning of the Phanerozoic, in which we currently reside.

Early Paleozoic Ice Age

From 460 million years ago to 430 million years ago (for about 30 million years).

Late Paleozoic Ice Age

From 360 million years ago to 260 million years ago (for a duration of about 100 million years). A possible cause was the massive proliferation of terrestrial plants during the prior Devonian period, leading to increased oxygen levels and a significant reduction in carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.

Quaternary Glaciation

Also known as the "Late Cenozoic Ice Age" or simply the "Ice Age," it began 2.58 million years ago and continues to this day.

During this Ice Age, glacial and interglacial periods^[11] alternate. The peak of the Last Glacial Maximum occurred around 18,000 years ago and ended around 11,400 years ago, during which the current Earth is in an interglacial period.

The remnants of the Last Glacial Maximum still cover about 10% of land area, existing primarily in Antarctica, Greenland, and Baffin Island. Global warming has intensified glacial melt since 1850.

In the recent millennium, despite being in an interglacial period, human activities have exacerbated temperature fluctuations, such as the Medieval Warm Period ^[12] occurring from the 10th to the 13th centuries, followed by the subsequent Little Ice Age ^[13].

The impacts of the Little Ice Age included temperature drops, shorter growing seasons for plants, cooler soils, reduced yields of food crops, rising grain prices, and frequent famines and pandemics worldwide. The rise in mortality rates resulted in a slowdown of global population growth during this period. The Little Ice Age was also marked by strikes, looting, and deaths, documented extensively in the historical records of many civilizations still in an agrarian society at that time.

Appendix

Planetary Parameters

Earth Position: Universe 3141:592:6535:9 Slice - KBC Void - Pisces - Whale Supercluster Complex - Laniakea Supercluster - Virgo Supercluster - Local Group - Milky Way - Orion Arm - Solar System - Planet Number 3

Orbital Parameters

Attribute	Data
Stellar Distance	Aphelion: $152,100,000km/1.01673AU$[14] Perihelion: $147,095,000km/0.9832687AU$ Semi-major axis: $149,598,023km/1.000001018AU$
Eccentricity[15]	$0.0167086$
Orbital Period	$365.256363004$ days
Average Orbital Speed	$29.78km/s$
Axial Tilt	$23.4392811°$
Satellite	Moon

Physical Parameters

Attribute	Data
Radius	Average: $6,371.0km$ Equatorial: $6,378.1km$ Polar: $6,356.8km$
Circumference	Equatorial: $40,075.017km$ Meridian: $40,007.86km$
Surface Area	$510,072,000k{m}^2$
Volume	$1.08321\times {10}^{12}k{m}^3$
Mass	$5.97237\times {10}^{24}kg$ (about $3.0\times {10}^{-6}$ solar mass)
Average Density	$5.514g/c{m}^3$
Surface Gravity	$9.807m/s^2$
Escape Velocity	$11.186km/s$
Equatorial Rotation Speed	$1,674.4km/h$
Rotation Period	$0.99726968d$ (23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.100 seconds)

Composition

The primary chemical elements that make up Earth are:

Element	Abundance
Iron	32.1%
Oxygen	30.1%
Silicon	15.1%
Magnesium	13.9%
Sulfur	2.9%
Nickel	1.8%
Calcium	1.5%
Aluminum	1.4%
Other Trace Elements Tungsten, Gold, Mercury, Fluorine, Boron, Xenon, etc.	1.2%

Due to mass stratification (where higher mass elements concentrate towards the center), it is estimated that the main chemical element forming the core is Iron (88.8%), with Nickel (5.8%) and Sulfur (4.5%) also present, along with trace elements totaling less than 1%. The mantle is primarily composed of minerals like Pyroxene^[16] and Olivine^[17].

In the crust, oxygen is the most abundant element, accounting for 46% of the composition. The oxygen-containing compounds in the crust include water, silica, gypsum, calcium carbonate, and aluminum oxide. The ten most abundant compounds in the crust, which mostly form the common rocks, are all oxygen-bearing compounds. Some rocks contain fluorides, sulfides, and chlorides, but the total concentration of fluorine, sulfur, and chlorine in any rock strata typically amounts to far less than 1%. The majority of the volume of igneous rocks, which make up over 90% of the crust's upper layers, is primarily composed of silica and silicates.

Geological Timescale

Eon	Era	Period	Age (Million Years Ago)
Phanerozoic	Cenozoic	Quaternary	2.588
		Neogene	23.03
		Paleogene	66
	Mesozoic	Cretaceous	145.5 ± 4.0
		Jurassic	199.6 ± 0.6
		Triassic	251.0 ± 0.7
	Paleozoic	Permian	299.0 ± 0.8
		Carboniferous	358.9 ± 0.4
		Devonian	419.2 ± 3.2
		Silurian	443.4 ± 1.5
		Ordovician	485.4 ± 1.9
		Cambrian	541.0 ± 1.0
Proterozoic	Neoproterozoic	Ediacaran	630 +5/-30
		Cryogenian	850
		Tonjan	1000
	Mesoproterozoic	Stenian	1200
		Tonian	1400
		Covering	1600
	Paleoproterozoic	Consolidation	1800
		Orogeny	2050
		Layering	2300
		Iron Age	2500
Archean	New Archean		2800
	Middle Archean		3200
	Old Archean		3600
	Beginning of Archean		3800
Hadean	Rain Sea Age		~ 3850
	Wine Sea Period		~ 3920
	Basin Group Age		~ 4150
	Hidden Era		~ 4600

To Be Continued...

Loading memories, updates coming later...

Translation Note

The original text is in Chinese, and the English translation has been automatically generated by ChatGPT. There may be issues with inaccuracies or errors in the translation, so please refer to the original text for the most accurate representation.

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1. To better integrate into the game, unless stated otherwise, we will use Earth-based measurements for life. ↩︎

2. Hardware and software can be separated, allowing for the loading of the Spirit. For more details, see “Deep Understanding: Life - Conscious State”. ↩︎

3. This also explains why "Earth Game" is well-received, due to its rarity. ↩︎

4. The time it takes for the solar system to orbit the Milky Way. ↩︎

5. Main sequence stars of the spectrum type G with luminosity class V. These stars typically have a mass ranging from 0.8 to 1.2 solar masses, with effective surface temperatures between 5,300 and 6,000K. Like other main sequence stars, GV stars undergo nuclear fusion in their cores, fusing hydrogen into helium. For Earth, the sun is the most famous and observable GV star. ↩︎

6. This period is defined in geological timescale as “Hadean”, from the birth of Earth to the end of the late heavy bombardment period (4.54 billion years ago - 3.84 billion years ago). ↩︎

7. Additionally, water and ice from asteroids, protoplanets, and comets are also sources of water on Earth. ↩︎

8. Known in geological terms as the “Archean”, the time from the end of the Hadean to about 2.5 billion years ago, when the Huronian glaciation began. The lithosphere of Earth began to stabilize and has been retained until today, and the hydrosphere dominated by superoceans took shape. The early biosphere, comprising microbial communities, was formed during this time in the Archean. ↩︎

9. The Great Oxidation Event refers to a period in Earth’s history at the boundary between the Archean and Proterozoic when oxygen levels in the oceans and atmosphere rose abruptly. This was due to the evolution of cyanobacteria that developed photosynthesis based on chlorophyll, resulting in significant amounts of free oxygen in the atmosphere. Major greenhouse gases such as methane were oxidized into carbon dioxide and water vapor, resulting in a severe weakening of the greenhouse effect in Earth's atmosphere, which lowered temperatures and further condense and remove water vapor, exacerbating cooling. ↩︎

10. The Cambrian Explosion lasted approximately 20 to 25 million years, leading to the divergence of most modern animal phyla, with fossils indicating that the vast majority of these "phyla" appeared during this period. The emergence of numerous higher organisms and biodiversity has led to this phenomenon being vividly termed the explosion of life. Detailed explanations can be found in the “Guide - Human History” chapter. ↩︎

11. A geological era separating adjacent ice ages within an ice age. Interglacial periods have higher average global temperatures. The current interglacial period began around 11,400 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. ↩︎

12. The Medieval Warm Period, MWP, was an unusual warm phase in the North Atlantic region lasting around 400 years. ↩︎

13. The Little Ice Age, LIA, began after the Medieval Warm Period, presenting a global temperature decline phenomenon from the 13th to the early 19th century, lasting about 500 years. ↩︎

14. AU, Astronomical Unit. An astronomical measure of length, previously defined by the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. Since August 2012, the astronomical unit has been fixed at 149,597,870,700 meters. ↩︎

15. Orbital eccentricity can be explained as the degree to which the shape deviates from a circle; values between 0 and 1 define an elliptical orbit. ↩︎

16. Chemical formula $(Mg,Fe,Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe,Al)(Si,Al{)}_2{O}_6$. ↩︎

17. Chemical formula $(Mg,Fe{)}_{2}Si{O}_4$. ↩︎