Early Earth (IMAGE) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Caption An artistic conception of the early Earth, showing a surface pummeled by large impact, resulting in extrusion of deep-seated magma onto the surface. Credit Simone Marchi Usage Restrictions Used with permission of Simone Marchi, SSERVI senior researcher at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.