During This Era Pangaea Formed And Multicellular Life Flourished.

How did planet Earth form?

There are two theories as to how planets in the solar system were created. The first and most widely accepted theory is 'core accretion', works well with the formation of the terrestrial planets like Earth, Venus, Mars. The second, the 'disk instability theory', may account for the creation of giant planets. Scientists are continuing to study planets in and out of the solar system in an effort to better understand which of these methods is most accurate. Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system was a cloud of dust and gas - a solar nebula. Gravity collapsed the material in on itself as it began to spin, forming a star in the center of the nebula, the sun.With the rise of the sun, the remaining material began to clump up. Small particles drew together, bound by the force of gravity, into larger particles. The solar wind swept away lighter elements, such as hydrogen and helium, from the closer regions, leaving only heavy, rocky materials to create smaller terrestrial worlds like Earth. But farther away, the solar winds had less impact on lighter elements, allowing them to settle into gas giants. In this way, asteroids, comets, planets, and moons were created.Earth's rocky core formed first, with heavy elements colliding and binding together. Dense material sank to the center, while the lighter pieces created the crust. The planet's magnetic field probably formed around this time. Gravity captured some of the lighter elements that make up the planet's early atmosphere.The continents migrated across the surface of the newly formed earth, combining to form a super continent. Roughly 750 million years ago, the earliest-known super continent called Rodinia began to break apart, then recombined 600 – 540 million years ago to form Pannotia, then finally Pangaea. This latest super continent broke apart 180 million years ago, eventually settling on the configuration that we know today. (See graphics from News and Information for Geology & Earth Science here). Source of information: Solar System History: How Was the Earth Formed?