FROM COSMOS
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All episodes/Episode 2.3

Episode 2.3 · 28 min

The Early Earth

How the early Earth cooled, developed a crust and oceans, and left fragments of its first 500 million years in ancient zircon crystals.

Watch this film on YouTube ↗

Visual credits

11 sources

Sources and credits for imagery used in this film, including material incorporated into explanatory animations.

  • SEM images of growth zoning, inclusions and analysis spots for the 4.4-Gyr-old zircon — Figure 1

    John W. Valley, Aaron J. Cavosie, Takayuki Ushikubo, David A. Reinhard, Daniel F. Lawrence, David J. Larson, Peter H. Clifton, Thomas F. Kelly, Simon A. Wilde, Desmond E. Moser and Michael J. Spicuzza

    View original source ↗

  • The Far Side of the Moon -- And All the Way Around

    GSFC

    View original source ↗Source licence: NASA media usage guidelines; often public-domain U.S. government work, verify item-specific restrictions.

  • Scientific image

    View original source ↗

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • APT and SIMS U–Pb data for the 4.4-Gyr-old zircon — Figure 2

    John W. Valley, Aaron J. Cavosie, Takayuki Ushikubo, David A. Reinhard, Daniel F. Lawrence, David J. Larson, Peter H. Clifton, Thomas F. Kelly, Simon A. Wilde, Desmond E. Moser and Michael J. Spicuzza

    View original source ↗

  • APT images of Y and Pb clusters in the 4.4-Gyr-old zircon — Figure 3

    John W. Valley, Aaron J. Cavosie, Takayuki Ushikubo, David A. Reinhard, Daniel F. Lawrence, David J. Larson, Peter H. Clifton, Thomas F. Kelly, Simon A. Wilde, Desmond E. Moser and Michael J. Spicuzza

    View original source ↗

  • Image result for query 'Bell 2015 4.1 billion year Jack Hills zircon graphite inclusion figure'; source host: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; file: pnas.1517557112sfig03.jpg.

    View original source ↗

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • LRO eastern limb lunar topographic map

    NASA/Goddard/MIT/Brown

    View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

  • Scientific image

    View original source ↗

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • Scientific figure · source page 3

    Yue et al, Chinese Academy of Sciences collaborators

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

  • Scientific figure · source page 12

    Zhang et al.; Chinese Academy of Sciences and Curtin collaborators

    View original source ↗

    Figure or page excerpt cropped from the source publication.

  • Archean xenon in Barberton quartz — Figure 4, isotopic composition

    Guillaume Avice, Bernard Marty, Ray Burgess

    View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

    Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

Research references

Selected sources from the episode’s research and scientific figures.

  1. https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2075 ↗
  2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08719-3 ↗
  3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12871470/ ↗
  4. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aee8718 ↗
  5. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lro/lola/ ↗
  6. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/samples/atlas/ ↗
  7. https://doi.org/10.1038/35051550 ↗
  8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.04.028 ↗
  9. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2006GC001449 ↗
  10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2016.10.005 ↗
  11. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4664351/ ↗
  12. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01450-0 ↗
  13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6398955/ ↗
  14. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature00982 ↗
  15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2009.06.023 ↗
  16. https://sseh.uchicago.edu/doc/Zahnle2007.pdf ↗
  17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-007-9225-z ↗
  18. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.181020898 ↗
  19. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/734/1/3 ↗
  20. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2869525/ ↗
  21. DOI: 10.1126/science.aba1948 ↗
  22. barrett-2025-hydrogen ↗
  23. DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116588 ↗
  24. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65729-5 ↗
  25. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1261952 ↗
  26. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10519 ↗
  27. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935595 ↗
  28. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65438-z ↗
  29. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2011RG000375 ↗
  30. https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.06265 ↗
  31. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08955 ↗
  32. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09961 ↗
  33. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo692 ↗
  34. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL054381 ↗
  35. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42490427/ ↗
  36. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5047187/ ↗
  37. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-063016-020131 ↗
  38. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5602003/ ↗
  39. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JE001583 ↗
  40. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7043912/ ↗
  41. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5454381/ ↗
  42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.09.017 ↗
  43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120405 ↗
  44. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016JE005098 ↗
  45. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202243445 ↗
  46. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/exploration/training/illustrations/earthMoon/ ↗
  47. https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758838/c10639360/pic_10639360.jpg ↗
  48. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ↗
  49. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivi1ObFGOwQ ↗
  50. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8nxfMkzzTE: ↗
  51. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwbK9jkQHJM: ↗

Music

  • Meditation From The Star Orion
    OctahedronMusic · Envato Elements
Footage and image usage

Credits and usage times retained from the published edition or its production credit record. Where present, times identify visual appearances, not documentary chapters. Source and licence corrections are listed in the visual credits above.

  • GSFC - 2:25-2:43, The Far Side of the Moon -- And All the Way Around
  • NASA/Goddard/MIT/Brown - 19:09-19:17, LRO eastern limb lunar topographic map
  • Springer Nature - 0:27-1:04, MediaObjects image; 9:43-9:50, MediaObjects image; 10:12-10:21, MediaObjects image
  • Zhang et al.; Chinese Academy of Sciences and Curtin collaborators - 21:47-21:57, Any main-text figure plotting the measured argon-40
  • Custom animations and figures: From Cosmos to Civilization. Third-party material incorporated into animations is credited on the linked sources page.

How this film was made

Created and editorially directed by Anders Lunde using a custom production system developed over six months. AI assists research, drafting, programming, and visual production; I review and edit the material and make the final editorial decisions. Narration uses text-to-speech. Visuals combine custom-built scientific animations, AI-generated reconstructions, and credited scientific imagery.

Generated reconstructions illustrate scientific interpretations. They are distinct from photographs, specimens, and measured data.

More about the creator and production →