In this
mixed mass of gas the oxygen and hydrogen would combine, at a
fitting temperature, and form water. For ages the molten crust
would hold this water suspended aloft as a surrounding shell of
cloud, but when the surface cooled to about 380 degrees C.
(Sollas), the liquid would begin to pour on it. A period of
conflict would ensue, the still heated crust and the frequent
volcanic outpours sending the water back in hissing steam to the
clouds. At length, and now more rapidly, the temperature of the
crust would sink still lower, and a heated ocean would settle
upon it, filling the hollows of its irregular surface, and
washing the bases of its outstanding ridges. From that time
begins the age-long battle of the land and the water which, we
shall see, has had a profound influence on the development of
life.
In deference to the opinion of a number of geologists we must
glance once more at the alternative view of the planetesimal
school. In their opinion the molecules of water were partly
attracted to the surface out of the disrupted matter, and partly
collected within the porous outer layers of the globe. As the
latter quantity grew, it would ooze upwards, fill the smaller
depressions in the crust, and at length, with the addition of the
attracted water, spread over the irregular surface.
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