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Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:2)
The Spirit of God hovering over the waters would of course not be measurable by science. But during this period, the first undisputed evidence of life appears about 3.5 billion years ago in the form of microbial mats and stromatolites, fossilized structures created by ancient microbial communities.
The last phrase of Genesis 1:2 follows the situation where the water had covered the earth. Now with the waters covering the earth, Genesis says that the Spirit of God was hovering over these waters. It is interesting that scientists believe that it was during this time that simple cellular life began to form in the oceans. This would of course be consistent with the life-giving character of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters, bringing life in the water below. Note that in this visualization that the surroundings are still dark because of the dense clouds above of carbon dioxide and methane.