Top definition whale unknown noun; a wealthy patron to a casino, gets paid special attention by a casino host so the patron will feel comfortable to gamble more money.
The age of Earth is approximately one-third of the age of the universe. An immense amount of geological change has occurred in that timespan, accompanied by biological change. Earth formed around 4.54 billion years ago by accretion from the solar nebula. Volcanic outgassing probably created the primordial atmosphere and then the ocean; but the atmosphere contained almost no oxygen and so would have been toxic to most modern life including humans.
Until only recently, geologists had thought that Earths surface hadnt changed much since the planet formed 4.6 billion years ago. They believed that the oceans and continents were always where they are now. But less than 100 years ago, a German scientist named Alfred Wegener took notice of some interesting findings. Similar plant and animal fossils were found in both Africa and South America and on other continents separated by oceans. Similar rock formations were also found on distant continents.