What dictated how much land mass Earth got when it was created and will we get more?
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TLDR: Volcanism and continental drift are responsible for most of the land mass above water, and it is increasing albeit very slowly.
In terms of land mass if you mean the continents, that is steadily increasing.
The amount of water on Earth’s surface remains effectively constant but the increasing height and mass of the continents creates more land.
Billions of years ago very little of Earths surface was above water, but the continents steadily grew to what they are now. The most stable parts of the continents are called the cratons. Massive rocks formed when the Earths crust was still molten. Chunks of early crust folded together to create massive floating islands of rock on magma which formed the basis for the continents.
By comparison the Earth’s crust under the oceans is quite thin compared to the continents and is constantly being subducted and recycled into the Earths mantle due to continental drift.
The continents meanwhile are being thrust upwards into mountain ranges, and adding material through Volcanism. The rate of this has slowed considerably compared to several billions years ago though.
Islands like Hawaii don’t last long geologically speaking. As the plate moves over the Volcanic hotspot the volcano that forms Hawaii will move to a new location. The islands will start to erode away and a few million years from now they will be almost entirely gone. You can actually follow the chain of islands formed by the Hawaii hotspot on a map. Eventually the plates will move enough that whatever is left of the islands will pile onto the nearest continent.
The continents meanwhile are growing faster than they are eroding, but at a snails pace over millions of years.
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