Genesis 1:6

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” Genesis 1:6 (NIV)

The QBible translates vaults as an expanse or firmament.  So this is where God separated the waters of the oceans and seas from the waters of the skies.  I guess the atmosphere was created here.

The only discussion I find on this verse is the discussion of the word "firmament."  Many of the scientific community seem to view this as proof that the Bible is unscientific and therefore faulty.  In going through the different arguments I don't really understand what there is to argue about, after all, there is a definite division between the oceans and seas and lakes and that of the water in the atmosphere.  Wikipedia seems to think that if one were to take this text completely literally you'd believe that there was a "great tent-like ceiling made of solid crystalline-like material."  But this is more an issue of how the text is interpreted.  Reading this passage , I never got the idea that that is what it meant, in fact, the division seems to be more in the form of the water.  Something can easily be something firm without it being a solid structure.  We know that there is water in our air (in a different form maybe) but there is a firm distinction from that water and the water we drink.  Even the atmosphere surrounding our planet seems pretty firm in that it's not going anywhere.

Many solid substances we consider "firm" can easily change through a chemical reaction just like water.  Maybe our meaning of "firm" is just too narrow.