GEOLOGIC TIME: EARTH’S HISTORICAL PAST

DIVISONS AND SUMMARY OF EVENTS

 Accretion (planetesimal to protoplanet)
 Earth collided with a Mars-sized object; debris
formed the moon
 Chemical differentiation established Earth’s three
major layers (primitive crust, mantle and core)
Archean Eon  Outgassing produced primitive atmosphere
 First unicellular organisms
Precambrian Eon

 Cyanobacteria released oxygen into the oceans as a

by-product of photosynthesis
 Formation of continental crust
 Oxygen molecules accumulated in the atmosphere,
then rearranged themselves to form ozone
protecting Earth’s surface from solar radiation
Proterozoic Eon  First multicellular organisms
 Supercontinent Rodinia formed, then dispersed into
separate landmasses, and later reassembled into
Gondwana plus other continental fragments
 Cambrian explosion
(huge expansion in biodiversity)
Invertebrates”

Cambrian Period
 Emergence of major invertebrate groups
“Age of

 Golden age of trilobites

 Appearance of cephalopods
Ordovician Period  Fishes perfected their internal skeleton
and were the first creatures to have jaws
 First, tiny, leafless, spiky, upright land plants
Paleozoic Era

Silurian Period
about the size of a human index finger
“Age of
Fishes”

 Fishes flourished
Devonian Period  First amphibians
 First tree-sized land plants
 Amphibians were dominant
 Extensive forests that would later become coal
Amphibians”

Carboniferous Mississippian
Phanerozoic Eon

beds
“Age of

Period
 Highest levels of atmospheric oxygen
Pennsylvanian  Continents collided to form Pangaea
 Great Permian extinction wiped out 70% of land-
Permian Period
dwelling vertebrates and 90% of marine life
 Pangaea began to rift
 Much of the world’s continents were above sea
level, exposing Triassic strata
 Archosaurs and Therapsids were the dominant
Triassic Period terrestrial vertebrates
“Age of Reptiles”

 Triassic-Jurassic extinction event wiped out 34% of

Mesozoic Era

marine species, made many of the large amphibians

extinct, and allowed dinosaurs to assume
dominance
 Dinosaurs dominated
Jurassic Period  Pangaea separated into Laurasia and Gondwana
 First known bird (Archaeopteryx)
 Relatively warm climate
Cretaceous Period  Appearance of new groups of mammals,
angiosperms, insects and birds
STEM-Lecture Notes in Earth Science
  Completion of Pangaea’s breakup into present-day
continents (with positions very different from their
current locations)
 Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event wiped out
the dinosaurs but opened habitats for mammals
 Mammals branched out into marsupial and
placental mammals
 Expansion of grasslands
Paleocene  Separation of Australia from South America
resulting in diversified evolutionary processes
Epoch
 Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
 Temperatures rose by 8° C
 Water transferred to near the poles
 Increased precipitation
 Warm temperatures and moist environment
 Thriving forests throughout the planet
Paleogene Period  Continued diversification and abundance of
mammals
Eocene
Epoch  Eocene-Oligocene extinction event or Grande
Coupre wherein atmospheric carbon dioxide
decreased, resulting in decreased global
temperatures, which led to the formation of ice
sheets on the poles
 Extensive grasslands
“Age of Mammals”

 Temperature deciduous forests replaced tropical

Cenozoic Era

Oligocene and subtropical forests

Epoch  Antarctica developed an ice cap due to the
Antarctic circumpolar current keeping warm ocean
waters away from the continent’s ice sheets
 Apes diversified; split evolutionary path
 Kelp forest and grassland biomes formed
Miocene  Middle Miocene Climate Transition or Middle
Epoch Miocene extinction (peak) wiped out terrestrial and
aquatic life forms
 First hominins appeared
Neogene Period
 First recognizable hominid appeared
 Continued drifting of the continents
Pliocene  Sea levels changed; oceans continued cooling
Epoch  Mild latitude glaciation occurred
 Grasslands spread across all continents
 Deserts formed in some areas
 Continued tectonic activity and volcanism
Pleistocene  Widespread glaciation
Epoch
Quaternary  Lowered sea levels and cooler climates
Period  Evolution of human lineage (genus Homo)
Holocene  Civilizations and transition toward urban living
Epoch (continues to the present)

STEM-Lecture Notes in Earth Science