DiscoverBig ThinkEarth used to look like Mars. Here’s why that changed. | Robert Hazen
Earth used to look like Mars. Here’s why that changed. | Robert Hazen

Earth used to look like Mars. Here’s why that changed. | Robert Hazen

Update: 2025-09-10
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### 🪨 **Minerals: The Silent Architects of Life**


*— A Mineralogist’s Perspective*


#### 💎 Minerals Are Everywhere


- They power our **technology**, **transport**, **agriculture**, and even **biology**.


- Every living thing on Earth depends on minerals — **you, me, and the food we eat**.


#### 🧠 Minerals Tell Stories


- Each mineral is a **time capsule**, holding clues to Earth’s **4.5-billion-year history**.


- They're **information-rich**, revealing how our planet evolved over time.


#### 🌱 The Origin of Life


- Life couldn’t have started without minerals:


→ They acted as **catalysts**, **reactants**, and **protective surfaces**


→ Essential for the chemistry that sparked life


#### 🌍 Earth’s Colorful Evolution


- **Black**: Born covered in dark basalt rock


- **Blue**: Rains and oceans gave rise to a water-covered world


- **Gray**: Plate tectonics created granite continents


- **Red**: Oxygen-rich life rusted the surface


- **White**: Ice Age turned the world into a frozen planet


- **Green**: Life colonized land, transforming Earth yet again


#### 🦴 Life and Minerals Co-Evolved


- Life didn’t just adapt **on Earth** — it adapted **with Earth**.


- Minerals gave us:


→ **Shells, teeth, bones**


→ The tools for survival and evolution


- This is the story of **the geosphere and biosphere evolving together**.


### 🔁 Final Thought:


> “We wouldn’t be here talking about minerals...


> **if minerals hadn’t made us possible.**”



Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes



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Earth used to look like Mars. Here’s why that changed. | Robert Hazen

Earth used to look like Mars. Here’s why that changed. | Robert Hazen

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