Well Ea itself seems to have come into existance perhaps in an instant? Maybe in a blink that was the beginning of time, a measure so short we could not perceive it?
But as for the actual shaping of the Earth, yes we do have information.
I get this from the
Annals of Aman in HoME X.
It is said the
Valar counted time by
ages, each of which was 100
Years of the Valar long. Each year of the Valar being about as long as 10 years of the Sun
It is computed by the lore-masters that the Valar came to the
realm of
Arda, which is the Earth, five thousand Valian Years ere the first rising of the Moon, which is as much as to say forty-seven thousands and nine hundred and one of our years. Of these, three thousand and five hundred (or thirty-three thousand five hundred and thirty of our reckoning) passed ere the measurement of time first known to the Eldar began with the flowering of the
Trees. Those were the Days before days. Thereafter one thousand and four hundred and five and ninety Valian Years (or fourteen thousand of our years and three hundred and twenty-two) followed during which the Light of the Trees shone in
Valinor. Those were the Days of Bliss. In those days, in the Year one thousand and fifty of the Valar, the
Elves awoke in Kuiviénen and the
First Age of the Children of
Ilúvatar began.
There is this...
After ages of labour beyond knowledge or reckoning in the great
halls of Ea the Valar descended into Arda in the beginning of its being, and they began there their labour fore-ordained for the shaping of its lands and its waters, even from the foundations to the highest
towers of the Air.
...which shows us there was a long time (How long though?) passed between the creation of Ea and the beginning of the shaping of Earth.
Here's some
dates from the time of the shaping, remember they are in Years of the Valar (about as long as 10 of our own!):
1 The First Year of the Valar in Arda - The Valar enter Arda and begin to shape it, but
Melkor gives them trouble.
1500 -
Tulkas comes and Melkor flees from him, giving peace for a time. The Valar take up the shaping of Arda again from anew. Lands and waters are been ordered and the lamps raised. The valar eventually rest for a time and watch the growth in Arda.
3400 - Valar feast, Tulkas sleeps. Melkor sneaks back in and sets up in the north, and his presence marrs the Spring of Arda, causing curruption and decay.
3450 - Valar realise Melkor is back. There is war where the symmetry of Arda was broken, the lamps thrown down and Melkor escaped. Then the valar established their realm in the West.
****
But to confuse things I'll mention that
Tolkien also used the formula of 1 Valian Year = 144 Solar years. I'm not sure which shoul be used, but either way it was a long time. I'd like to think of the 144 system because it makes the creation of Arda so long that it is more feasible with what our science knows today. Also, Christopher Tolkien interprets something his father wrote as meaning that the Valian Year dates used in the Annals may be kept, but they would simply represent 144 instead of 10 Solar years. Though using 144 would make some of the
events listed later in the Annals far longer than what seems reasonable. *shrugs*
