As the Earth formed, it went through cycles of essentially hotter and colder periods. Extremely volcanic times and ice ages, in feedback loops contributing to one another. CO2 swinging from high to low back and forth, all the while islands and landforms are evolving. In some ways it's like a ripple effect moving through the Earth as it came to be the shape it is today, still with an evolving climate and form.
How many extreme temperature and activity cycles has the Earth (or at least the surface of it) gone through since its formation? I understand there might be some uncertainty since this is over the scale of hundreds of millions of years. If the question can be answered clearer within a limited geological time period please do apply that boundary and answer for a more recent time period.
I'd also be interested to learn about any kinds of measurements or cutting edge topics or research questions that would help us learn about these cycles in the past.