Chemistry of The Atmosphere

the early atmosphere came from intense volcanic activity, which released gases that made the early atmosphere very similar to the atmospheres of Mars and Venus today. These atmospheres have:

• a large amount of carbon dioxide
• little or no oxygen
• small amounts of other gases, such as ammonia and methane

Volcanic activity also released water vapour, which condensed as the Earth cooled to form the oceans. Nitrogen was probably also released by volcanoes which gradually built up in the atmosphere because it is unreactive.

For approximately 200 million years, the proportions of different…