'When and how was the Earth formed ?' This is one question which scientists around the world are still trying to find out more and more about. The majority of scientists now believe that the Earth was created from the Sun. In the ancient past a cloud of dust and gases separated from the Sun. It was a part of this cloud which eventually formed the Earth. On cooling down, our mountains and valleys were formed. The chemical changes in the original gases brought about the formation of water and the creation of the oceans.
Beneath the surface of the Earth are hidden diverse kinds of mineral wealth. On digging beneath the surface we can unearth different kinds of metals like iron, copper, gold and silver, as also rock-like substances like diamonds, emeralds, topaz and garnets. These metals and minerals are very useful. For example most of our fuel and energy comes from natural gas and petroleum both of which are found only beneath the Earth.
We could have hardly reached the present level of our civilization without using this hidden wealth of the planet. Our lives would have been tremendously more difficult and man's development would have stopped long ago had he not been able to utilize these resources of his Earth.