8. Volcano eruption releases fire and a great quantity of smoke. The smoke formed a huge cloud like a mushroom top in the sky and blocks out the sun. The cloud is heavy and filled wit soot and ashes so it rains back onto earth. The rain then evaporates on the warm crust and rise back into the air as gas. Think about experiment 21 on evaporation with water and the hot pan. In the beginning not very much rain stayed on the earth but very gradually over the years, the earth’s crust became cooler and cooler to the point where rain doesn’t evaporate so quickly. Hence, some rain water stays on the earth and moved downward and stayed in the lower hollows of the wrinkled earth. This created oceans and lakes. When water became part of the earth’s surface, the stage was set for life to come to earth.