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The Hadean eon began around 4.6 billion years ago and ended roughly 4 billion years ago. This is Earth’s first 600 million years.

It is easy to dismiss or gloss over the Hadean because of how much has occurred in the ensuing 4 billion years. It was a very long time ago and virtually no evidence of it remains on Earth.

Over its lifetime, Earth has morphed from an inhospitable, semi molten orb with a magma ocean crust into the spectacular panorama of deep and expansive oceans, towering snowcapped mountains, and vast plains, forests and deserts that we see all around us today.

It is also teeming with an immense array of diverse life.

The earliest multicellular organisms made their debut on Earth 600 million years ago. The oldest known dinosaur fossil dates back to 230 million years ago. If you examine any given 600-million-year span, you realize a lot of changes occurred during that time.

Why should the Hadean be any different?

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