Artwork of the primordial Earth - stock illustration

An animation of the primitive Earth in the process of formation, more than four billion years ago. We view the newborn world from its troubled surface, a sea of lava dotted with volcanoes spewing more lava, ash and smoke into the atmosphere. Meteorites fall frequently, illuminating the black, lifeless, surface rocks. And in the sky, the Moon -- much closer to us then than it is now -- endures a similar bombardment.