Table Of ContentWHERE ON EARTH?
AT LAS
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S
T
DK London
Senior editor Chris Hawkes
Senior art editor Rachael Grady
Editors Tom Booth, Anna Fischel, Anna Limerick
US editor Jenny Siklos N
Early Earth
Designers David Ball, Chrissy Barnard, Mik Gates,
Spencer Holbrook, Kit Lane
Introduction 6
Illustrators Adam Benton, Stuart Jackon-Carter, Jon@kja-artists
Cartography Simon Mumford, Encompass Graphics 500–380 million years ago 8
E
300–220 million years ago 10
Jacket editor Claire Gell
Jacket designer Mark Cavanagh 180–80 million years ago 12
Jacket design development manager Sophia MTT
40 million years ago–
Picture research Jayati Sood
T
Present day 14
Producer, pre-production Nadine King, Rob Dunn
Senior producer Gary Batchelor
Managing editor Francesca Baines N
Managing art editor Philip Letsu
Publisher Andrew Macintyre
Publishing director Jonathan Metcalf
Associate publishing director Liz Wheeler
Art director Karen Self
O
First American Edition, 2017
Published in the United States by DK Publishing North America
345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Countries and borders 18
C
Copyright © 2017 Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC Landscape 20
17 18 19 20 21 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Fascinating facts 22
001–282938–April/17
Population 24
All rights reserved.
The Grand Canyon 26
Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved
above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored Famous landmarks 28
in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted,
Climate 30
in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the Wildlife 32
prior written permission of the copyright owner.
By night 34
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited.
A catalog record for this book is available
from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4654-5864-3
DK books are available at special discounts when
purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums,
fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact:
DK Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014 South America
[email protected]
Countries and borders 38
Printed and bound in Hong Kong
Landscape 40
A WORLD OF IDEAS:
Fascinating facts 42
SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW
www.dk.com
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Population 44
Amazon Basin 46
Famous landmarks 48
Climate 50
Wildlife 52
By night 54
Asia Polar regions
Countries and borders 98 Antarctica 136
Landscape 100 The Arctic 138
Fascinating facts 102
Population 104
The Himalayas 106
Famous landmarks 108
Africa
Climate 110
Countries and borders 58
Wildlife 112
Landscape 60
By night 114
Fascinating facts 62
The oceans
Population 64
The Great Rift Valley 66 Pacific Ocean 142
Famous landmarks 68 Atlantic Ocean 144
Climate 70 Indian Ocean 146
Wildlife 72
By night 74
Australia and
Oceania
Countries and borders 118
Landscape 120
Reference
Fascinating facts 122
Population 124
Europe Countries of the world 150
New Zealand 126
Glossary 156
Countries and borders 78 Famous landmarks 128
Index 158
Landscape 80 Climate 130
Acknowledgements 160
Fascinating facts 82 Wildlife 132
Population 84
The Alps 86
Famous landmarks 88
Climate 90
Wildlife 92
By night 94 Kangaroo
The South Pole
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US_004-005_282983_Early_earth_Opener.indd 4 18/11/2016 16:49
H
Y
LT
RR
AA
EE
Under attack
Rock and debris from space crashed
into Earth’s surface during its early
formation, turning it molten and
triggering volcanic activity.
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H Early Earth
T
R Atmosphere
A
The air was heavy with carbon
E
dioxide. Atmospheric pressure
Y
L was higher than it is today,
R
A which allowed water to stay
E liquid at a far higher
Earth’s formation started shortly after
temperature than its
the birth of the Sun, 4.6 billion years ago. modern boiling point.
A star exploding in nearby space caused a
vast amount of interstellar dust to collapse
in on itself. This formed our Sun, and over
time the rest of the surrounding debris
clumped together into planets. As these
grew larger, their steadily increasing
gravity pulled them into spheres. One of
these was our planet, Earth, a rocky ball
with a molten metal core, and a thin shell,
called a crust, at its surface.
The layered interior structure of Earth
emerged early in its evolution. Heat from
Earth’s molten core forced the crust,
which is made up of large slabs of rock
called tectonic plates, to move constantly.
As these plates shunted around and
crashed into each other, they caused
earthquakes and fiery volcanoes, formed
mountain ranges and entire continents,
and helped create the conditions in
which life could emerge.
Clouds
Clouds of
water droplets
could be seen
in the sky,
much as today.
First oceans
Liquid water, in which the
first life formed, would have
become permanent oceans at
some time between 4.4 and
4.2 billion years ago.
This illustration shows the sequence of Earth’s formation—from small fragments
of rock and dust sticking together, to a planet with its own atmosphere.
6 THE FIRST LIFE FORMS ON EARTH, THE ANCESTORS OF MODERN
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3.5 billion years ago
Early Earth was quite different from the world we know
today. Before the ozone layer developed in the
atmosphere, exposed land was unprotected from
the Sun’s burning radiation, and remained lifeless
for billions of years. However, conditions for life may
have existed in the deep oceans and the shallow seas.
Lava flows
As asteroid impacts triggered volcanic
activity, lava could fill craters.
Isolated oceans
Cooling seas, cut off from the
violence going on elsewhere on
the planet, may have provided the
conditions from which the first
life forms would emerge.
Volcanic activity
Volcanoes threw out minerals that,
at calmer locations, may have
helped produce the ingredients
needed to create life.
Late Heavy Bombardment
Starting around 4.1 billion years ago and
lasting for 200 million years, a huge number
of asteroids crashed into the Solar System’s
inner planets, including Earth. This period is
known as the Late Heavy Bombardment.
BACTERIA, ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE EMERGED 3.5 BILLION YEARS AGO. 7
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H
T
R 500 million years ago In the water 420 million years ago
A
Many life forms developed in the
E By this stage of Earth’s history two Continents continued to shift.
warm, shallow seas, including
Y
major continents had formed. The Avalonia (now split across
L marine invertebrates such as
R
largest, Gondwana, was mainly present-day southern Britain
A Hallucigenia, a worm with limbs.
E tropical. Laurentia (now North and Canada) moved north to
America) had also drifted from the collide with Laurentia. Siberia
polar regions to the tropics and headed north and Gondwana
sat on the Equator. Temperatures south, taking most of present-day
were mild across the globe, Australia and Antarctica into the
but cooling. southern hemisphere. Sea
levels started to rise.
Hallucigenia
SIBERIA
LAURENTIA
LAURENTIA
A
N
A
W
D
N
O
G
The giant continent of
Gondwana sat on the tropics
Reverse view Reverse view
Lifeless land Early algae Animals
Carbon dioxide levels There was no land Millipedes, such as the one below,
in the atmosphere vegetation, but many were the first known oxygen-
were 15 times higher types of algae (plant- breathing animals on land.
than today, and like oganisms that live
no animals could in the sea) had appeared
survive on land. and diversified.
8 THE FIRST INSECTS ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE
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