Geologic timeline

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The Geologic timeline (also called geologic time scale) is a system of measurement commonly used by earth scientists that relates rock strata to time, providing a rough history of geology and life (through the fossil record) on Earth. The geologic timeline is vast, stretching back to the formation of the Earth approximately 4.5 billion years ago to the present day and into the future until the destruction of the Earth. It is divided into various eons, eras, periods and other denominations to make studying it more practical and distinguish unique periods of time.

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[edit] Pre-Cambrian

Pre-Cambrian is an informal term in geology and paleontology for the time from the formation of the Earth about 4500 million years ago to the Cambrian explosion of life that occurred 542 mya, which marked the beginning of the Paleozoic Era and the Cambrian Period. Little is known about the Pre-Cambrian, despite the fact that it constitutes the vast majority of our planet's history.

The Pre-Cambrian saw the origin of life, the evolution of photosynthesis, the transformation of Earth's atmosphere into its modern form, and the creation of iron ore.

In non-scientific writing, the Pre-Cambrian is often imprecisely referred to as a "period" or "era", but "period" and "era" are technical terms of geology, and the Pre-Cambrian is itself made up of several periods (such as the Ediacaran) and eras.

[edit] Hadean

The Hadean saw the formation of the Earth around 4500 mya to around 4000 mya, the formation of the moon and the initial, hostile state of the Earth with heavy volcanism and poison waters when they existed.

Very few traces of this time period remain due to geologic processes, and the few that do are in scattered locations such as Australia and Greenland, and to an extent on the moon as well due to the currently accepted model for it's formation in this period.

[edit] Arcaean

The Archeon is the second time-period of the early Earth (4000 MYA to 2500 MYA), and consisted of higher volcanism and a near total lack of oxygen in the atmosphere. By the end of the period, the planet would have cooled significantly, allowing more familiar processes to act and for the formation of actual continent and continent bases to begin.

At the beginning there was no functional distinction between the Hadean and the Arcaean (the division itself is artificial), and at the end it is theorized several continents would have risen and fallen, though less than 10% of archaen rock is known to remain across the planet, in locations spread across the globe.

The most signifigant part of this time period would be that life, if not in the previous Eon, began in this era, though what there was was likely simple.

[edit] Proterozoic

The Proterozoic is the final Eon of the Pre-cambrian, lasting from 2500mya to 542mya. This eon marks the beginning of life in a way we would understand it (non simple) and the creatures that would ultimately make up the Cambrian explosion would have first evolved in this time period.

Some of the most significant events of this time period would have been the first glacial periods, including a hypothesized time when all except the equator was locked under ice (Snowball Earth hypothesis) and the change of the atmosphere as oxygen rose from almost nothing to the current percentage, as well as triggering a mass extinction of lifeforms to whom oxygen was a poison to in the same way carbon dioxide is to modern creatures.

[edit] Paleozoic Era

The Paleozoic Era is a geological era that started 542 mya and finished 252.2 mya, encompassing the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian geological periods. It is marked in the beginning by the emergence of soft shelled life, and near the end of the Era, marked by complex plants (first modern ones), insects, fish and small reptiles. Sea levels reacted ~200m higher than today, due to the warmer climate at the end of the period, which was likely moderate at the start of the era. However due to continental drift it became much warmer in come places and much colder in areas where life was located. This era ended with the greatest known mass extinction in history.

[edit] Cambrian

The Cambrian (from Cambria, the classical name for Wales) was a geologic period of time that lasted from 542 to 488 million years ago. It was the first period of the Paleozoic era, and is distinguished from the preceding Pre-Cambrian period by a spectacular increase in the number of living organisms; specifically, the emergence of multicellular life that possessed hard exoskeletons, and the divergence of many modern phyla like Mollusca, Echinodermata and, notably, Chordata, which of course is the phylum that contains all vertebrate life. The Cambrian explosion is often misunderstood by creationists; see that article for why. It should also be noted that most of the lifeforms peculiar to the Cambrian looked freaking awesome.

[edit] Ordovician

The Ordovician (from the Ordovices, a Welsh tribe) is the name given to a geologic period of time following the Cambrian and preceding the Silurian period. It lasted from 448 to 443 million years ago, and was the second period of the Paleozoic era. Some interesting facts include:

  • Seas were ~180m higher than present day
  • Southern continents were grouped into one named Gondwana
  • First land plant spores ~470 million years ago
  • Ocean temperatures may have reached 45°C
  • An Extinction is thought to have been caused by an ice age, and it started with an extinction event as well.

[edit] Silurian

Yay, fish!

The Silurian (from the Silures, a Welsh tribe) is a period of geologic time that lasted from approximately 443 to 416 million years ago. It was preceded by the Ordovician period (the boundary between the two is marked by a mass extinction event) and was followed by the Devonian period.

The Silurian period saw the first appearance of coral reefs and jawed fish in the fossil record, in addition to widespread terrestrial plant life.

[edit] Devonian

The quarry in Devon whose rocks gave the period its name.
The Devonian (from Devon, the English county where rocks from this period were first identified) is a period of geologic time that lasted from approximately 416 to 359 million years ago. It was preceded by the Silurian period and followed by the Carboniferous period.

The Devonian period was marked by the formation of large continents, which would later conglomerate into Pangaea. It also witnessed extensive colonisation of the land by plants, and the emergence of the first terrestrial animals (insects and other arthropods). By the end of the period, the first amphibians had appeared in the fossil record. Marine life was dominated by bony fishes, which first appeared in the Silurian period. The end of the Devonian period was marked by a mass extinction event.

[edit] Carboniferous

The Carboniferous (coal-bearing) is the name given to a geologic period of time that lasted from approximately 359 to 299 million years ago. It was preceded by the Devonian period and followed by the Permian period. Its name is derived from the numerous coal beds that were laid down during this time.

The supercontinent Pangaea formed during the Carboniferous period. Animal colonisation of the land increased, with the diversification of arthropods and amphibians.

It was during the Carboniferous that most of today's so-called "fossil fuel" deposits were laid down. It is often divided into the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian time periods.

[edit] Permian

The P-T boundry

The Permian (named after the kingdom of Permia, Russia) was the final geological time period of the Paleozoic era, and extended from 290 million years ago to 250 million years ago.[1] It was preceded by the Carboniferous period and succeeded by the Triassic. The start of the Permian was cool and dry; however, by its end the temperature on Earth reached levels higher than at any time since the Cambrian explosion and higher than at any point since. The continents were in one giant landmass called Pangaea. The Permian ended in a mass extinction which killed about 90-95% of sea life and about 70% of land organisms.[2] This is known as the P-T extinction event [3] and was the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history. Most scientists agree this was related to high volcanic activity, possibly abetted by impact events and climate change.[2]

[edit] Young earth creationist claims

Young Earth creationists claim that the split of Pangaea was a result of the flood[4]. Many young Earth creationists address the high volcanic activity due to the meteorite that is said to have impacted the Earth, and allegedly caused the flood. They state this even though true scientists claim there was a drought - which is the opposite of a flood. Indeed, over the course of the Permian sea levels dropped around 80 meters,[5] creating many basins of salt from evaporated seas.

[edit] Mesozoic

[edit] Triassic

The Triassic is the name given to a geological time period which extended from 251 to 199 million years ago. The Triassic is the start of the Mesozoic Era. It is preceded by the Permian and succeeded by the Jurassic. It followed the largest extinction event known, the P/T, with 95% of life dying. It is the first geological period in which dinosaurs appear. Yay, dinosaurs! Oil, too! Synapsids also appeared in the Triassic; they would later evolve into mammals.

[edit] Jurassic

DInosaurs!

The Jurassic is the geological time period between the Triassic and Cretaceous periods and lasted from 199.6 million years ago to 145.5 million years ago. The Jurassic period is named for the Jura mountains in Europe, where rocks from this era can be found. Dinosaurs were the dominant animal group in this period, particularly the large sauropods—just like in the movie.

[edit] Cretaceous

The Cretaceous was a geologic period of time that lasted from approximately 145 to 65 million years ago. It was preceded by the Jurassic period and followed by the Paleogene period, the latter boundary also forming the demarcation between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. It was the last period of the "Age of Reptiles": dinosaurs, pterosaurs and sea reptiles were the dominant global fauna.

[edit] K-T Extinction

The end of the Cretaceous period was marked by a mass extinction event known as the K-T (Cretaceous-Tertiary[6]) Extinction. It is believed to be caused by a combination of a meteorite impact and volcanic activity, and resulted in the extinction of the hitherto dominant dinosaurs, in addition to the pterosaurs, many marine reptiles and other organisms. This is the most famous and widely known mass extinction (due to the mass appeal of dinosaurs), though it isn't the largest or most recent. The largest event is considered to be the PermianTriassic extinction event, and the most recent may well be occurring now.

[edit] Cenozoic

[edit] Paleogene

The Paleogene was a geologic period that lasted from approximately 65 to 23 million years ago. It was also the first period of the Cenozoic era. It was preceded by the Cretaceous period and followed by the Neogene period. (Formerly the Paleogene and Neogene were lumped together as the Tertiary period.) The Paleogene period is itself divided into three epochs: the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene.

The Paleogene period began with the K-T extinction, an event that removed the dominant reptiles (including the dinosaurs) from the ecosystem and allowed mammals and birds to proliferate.

[edit] Neogene

The Neogene was a geologic period that lasted from approximately 23 to 2.6 million years ago. Alternatively, it has been argued that the current Quaternary period should be included within the Neogene period. It followed the Paleogene period, and was the second period of the Cenozoic era.

It is subdivided into two epochs: the Miocene (23 to 5.3 million years ago) and the Pliocene (5.3 to 2.6 million years ago).[7]

During the Neogene period, the continents roughly assumed their present positions and the world's flora and fauna evolved into forms of which the majority would be comparable with modern species. The genus Homo, which would eventually give rise to humans (us!), also appeared at the end of the Neogene.

[edit] Quaternary

The Quaternary is the current geologic time period, which began approximately 2.6 million years ago.[8] It is divided into two epochs: the older Pleistocene (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) and the current Holocene (11,700 years ago to the present).[9] Its status, however, is disputed, as some geologists claim that it should be included within the preceding Neogene period.

The name Quaternary itself derives from the obsolete Primitive (or Primary), Secondary and Tertiary periods which were classified by the Italian geologist, Giovanni Arduino, in 1760. The Primitive referred to crystalline basement rocks, Secondary to consolidated sedimentary rocks, and Tertiary to alluvial rocks that were thought to have been deposited by the Global Flood but now corresponds to the period of time covered by the Paleogene and Neogene periods.

Whether it remains a separate period or not, the Quaternary is of particular importance to humanity as this is the time when Homo sapiens evolved. The period has also been marked by frequent ice ages, of which more are forecast to come (unless global warming cancels them out).

[edit] The Future

Assuming that the processes of the past continue to operate as they have and something else doesn't drastically change the current geologic motions, the Pacific Ocean will be subducted under the Eurasian and North American Plates as the Atlantic Ocean Expands, pushing the two continents together into a new super-continent, nicknamed "Amasia" (not to be confused with the Amero) by some, potentially centered around the North Pole[10]

Beyond that we have only wild speculation as to what will happen, as Amasia is predicted to form around a hundred million years in the future and from there it's anybodies guess. However Geologic time will continue until the world itself ceases to exist, even if only as a dead husk orbiting a long dead star.

[edit] See Also

[edit] External links


[edit] Footnotes

  1. The Permian
  2. 2.0 2.1 The Permo-Triassic extinction
  3. Permian-Triassic extinction event
  4. How they reconcile accepting the existence of Pangaea and its sundering into today's continents with Young Earth Creationism is a possibly interesting question.
  5. Haq, B. U.; Schutter, SR (2008). "A Chronology of Paleozoic Sea-Level Changes". Science 322 (5898): 64–68. See here
  6. Tertiary is an obsolete name for the period lasting from 65 to 1.8 million years ago.
  7. Geologic time scale
  8. National Geographic: Quaternary Period
  9. Geologic time scale
  10. The super continent Amasia around the north pole
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