Pootler

On  the seventh day, God rested. H e p ut his feet up, had a beer and took his eye off the ball. C haos ensued.  Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure and time. (Red: The Shawshank Redemption)  This is about the landscape of the northern Home Counties. Nothing of early Earth can readily be seen in them, but I thought that I ought to start at the beginning and acknowledge the canvas before asking you to admire the painting. There are two big things that you need to be aware of. Everything else is detail. As I am sure you know, it all started with the Big Bang some 14bn years ago which, initially at least, wasn't big and wasn't a bang. If you want an explanation try this short video:  Link : Big Bang .  In any event, i t wasn't until 4bn years later that there was a proto-Earth. This would have been a hellish time to visit. Early Earth lacked a magnetic shield to protect it from the nasties that the sun was spewing out, an...