Meteorites and interplanetary dust shows the composition of solid material at the start of the Solar System, as they have not been modified since its formation. Carbonaceous chondrites are meteorites with around 5% carbon compounds. Their composition resembles the Sun's minus the very volatile elements like hydrogen and noble gases.
The Earth is believed to have formed by the gravitational collapse of material like meteorites.
Important effects on Earth in the first Hadian Era include strong solar winds during the T-Tauri stage of the Sun. The Moon forming impact caused major changes to the surface. Juvenile volatiles outgased from the early molten surface of the Earth. These included carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The emissions probably did not include methane, but the Earth was probably free of molecular oxygen. The Late Heavy Bombardment was between 4.0 and 3.8 billion years ago (Ga). To start with, the Earth did not have a crust as it does today. Plate tectonics in its present form commenced about 2.5 Ga.
Early sedimentary rocks formed under water date to 3.8 Ga. Pillow lavas dating from 3.5 Ga prove the existence of oceans. Evidence of early life is given by fossils of stromatolites, and later by chemical tracers.
Organic matter continues to be added to the Earth from space via interplanetary dust, which also includes some interstellar particles. The amounts added to the Earth were around 60,000 tonnes per year about 4 Ga.