A.

Precambrian Eon

1. Hadean

Informal division of Precambrian time occurred between about 4.6 billion

and about 4.0 billion years ago. The Hadean Eon is characterized by Earth’s
initial formation—from the accretion of dust and gases and the frequent collisions
of larger planetesimals—and by the stabilization of its core and crust and the
development of its atmosphere and oceans. Throughout part of the eon, impacts
from extraterrestrial bodies released enormous amounts of heat that likely
prevented much of the rock from solidifying at the surface. As such, the name of
the interval is a reference to Hades, a Greek translation of the Hebrew word for
hell, It also comes from the name “Hades”, the ancient Greek god of the
underworld. Earth’s surface was incredibly unstable during the early part of the
Hadean Eon. Convection currents in the mantle brought molten rock to the
surface and caused cooling rock to descend into magmatic seas.

There are very few geological traces of this period remaining on the
planet and, hence, there are no official subdivisions. However, the Lunar
geologic time scale embraces several major divisions relating to the Hadean and
so these are sometimes used in an informal sense to refer to the same periods of
time on Earth. These Lunar divisions are pre-Nectarian (from the formation of the
Moon’s crust up to 3.92 Ga; and Nectarian (ranging up to 3.85 Ga).

In the 20th century, geologists have found Hadean rocks in western Greenland,
northwestern Canada, and Western Australia. The rock formations in Greenland
were sediments that date all the way back to around 3.8 Ga and were found to
be somewhat altered by a volcanic dike. In Canada they found zircon crystals in
sediments they also found this in Australia that was much older.

It has been theorized that part of our planet’s formation was disrupted by
an impact that created the moon, which would have resulted in melting one or
two large areas. Present composition does not match complete melting however,
 a fair fraction of material should have been vaporized by this impact, creating a
rock vapor atmosphere.

`Because of the cruel conditions of the ancient earth it would be impossible for
life to have formed and become established. If there was life during this time it
would have been destroyed over and over again until the conditions of our planet
became more habitable for life.

2. Archaean or Archean

The Archaean Eon is divided into four subgroups: the Neoarchean (2.8 to
2.5 billion years ago), Mesoarchean (3.2 to 2.8 billion years ago), Paleoarchean (3.6 to 3.2
billion years ago), and Eoarchean (4 to 3.6 billion years ago). Earth during the Archean Eon
would be unlike the planet we live on today.
The atmosphere would have been a mixture of substances like methane,
ammonia, and other gases that would be toxic to most life living on Earth today. The Earth’s
crust may also have cooled enough to allow large rocks and continental plates to form.

Life first appeared on Earth during the early Archean Eon. The oldest
fossils known to man are roughly 3.5 billion years old and interestingly, all the life during the
Archean Eon are all bacteria. This eon was once home to the bacteria microfossils (commonly
photosynthetic bacteria called stromatolites) that we use as evidence of evolution now.

Stromatolites have been found as fossils and early Archean rocks in

South Africa and Western Australia. Stromatolites increased in number during the Archean but
declined during the Proterozoic. Stromatolites are not usual today but are doing well in Shark
Bay, Australia.
 Even though the continental crust may have been present 4 billion years
ago, there is no evidence to find out how much of it was submerged or exposed and when this
might have happened. The evolution of the early lithosphere is a vital factor in understanding
the amount of exposed land during the Archean Eon.

The current and existing oceanic lithosphere lessened as it grows old,

based on arithmetical models of mantle convection it has been discovered that it is due to
higher internal heating due to a much bigger concentration of radioactive isotopes in the
Archean mantle halted subsidence, possibly provoking seafloor shallowing before 2.5 billion
years ago.

3. Proterozoic

The Proterozoic (meaning “earlier life”) Eon is the most recent division of the
Precambrian Eon. It is also the longest eon that began 2.5 billion years ago and ended 541
million years ago. It represented the time before the proliferation of complex life on Earth.
During this Eon, modern plate tectonics became active, which led the ancient cores of the
continents to move over wide areas across the globe, accumulating small fragments of the crust
and colliding with other large landmasses. Most of the central parts of the continents were
formed.

Furthermore, photosynthesis (in organisms like stromatolites) had started discharging

oxygen to the atmosphere slowly but the oxygen was quickly absorbed by minerals. Fortunately,
evolutionary advancements in multicellular cyanobacteria transformed the atmosphere by
discharging free oxygen that caused the drastic reduction of the anaerobic bacteria (non-
oxygen) that existed at that time. This is known as the Great Oxygenation Event. Now, with an
oxygenated world, organisms thrived in ways they couldn’t in previous eons. Oxygen also
changed the chemistry of the planet in significant ways. Oxygenation of the atmosphere is the
single biggest event that differentiates the Archean Eon and the Proterozoic Eon. While it
changed the Earth’s minerals and ocean chemistry, this event is also recognized as the likely
cause of the Earth’s first glaciation. Free oxygen reacted with the methane in the atmosphere
and converted it into carbon dioxide. Methane is more effective than carbon dioxide as a
greenhouse gas. As carbon dioxide increased in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect
eventually decreased and cooled the planet.

During the Proterozoic, a large evolutionary step occurred with the appearance of
eukaryotes. These eukaryotic cells are the branch of the tree of life that unfolded more
organisms and living things like fungi, plants, and animals. A number of fossil structures were
found in Proterozoic rocks.

To conclude the Proterozoic Eon, this is the division of life that has proven us of
evolution. This can be evident with the diverse evolution of eukaryotic organisms, first
oxygenation, and the origin of continental plates.

B. Phanerozoic Eon
1. Paleozoic

-
- The Paleozoic Era, which lasted around 542 million years and ended
about 251 million years ago, was a period of tremendous change on
Earth. With the breakdown of one supercontinent and the development of
another, the period started. Plants spread over the world. Then came the
arrival of the earliest vertebrate animals on land.
- It all started with the Cambrian Period, which lasted 53 million years and
was characterized by an explosion of life on Earth. The evolution of
arthropods (ancestors of today's insects and crustaceans) and chordates
was part of the "Cambrian explosion" (animals with rudimentary spinal
cords).
- Following the Cambrian Period came the Ordovician Period, which lasted
45 million years and is characterised by an abundance of marine
creatures in the fossil record. The trilobite, an armored arthropod that
scurried over the seafloor for nearly 270 million years before going
extinct, was perhaps the most famous of these invertebrates.
- Next came the Silurian Period (443 million to 416 million years ago),
which saw the spread of jawless fish throughout the seas. In the waters,
mollusks and corals prospered, but the real story was what was going on
on land: the first unambiguous evidence of terrestrial life.
 - It was then followed by the Devonian Period. Ferns and the first trees
sprouted and at the same time, the land was being colonized by the
earliest animals. These creatures were known as tetrapod, and they
came in a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from lizard-like to snake-
like, with lengths ranging from 4 inches (10 cm) to 16 feet (5 meters). The
first terrestrial arthropods appeared in this period, including the earlier
ancestors of spiders.

2. Mesozoic
Second of Earth’s three major geologic eras of Phanerozoic time. Its
name is derived from the Greek term for “middle life.” The Mesozoic Era began
252.2 million years ago, following the conclusion of the Paleozoic Era, and ended
66 million years ago, at the dawn of the Cenozoic Era. The ancestors of major
plant and animal groups that exist today first appeared during the Mesozoic, but
this era is best known as the time of the dinosaurs. The earth’s climate was
generally warm, the Mesozoic Era was a time of geological and biological
transition. The Mesozoic Era is divided into the Triassic, Jurassic, and
Cretaceous periods. The Triassic was named from a trio (trias) of widespread
terrestrial to shallow-marine formations in Germany;

During this era the continents began to move apart into their present-day
placements. The three of the five largest mass extinctions are associated with
this era. A mass extinction between the boundaries of the Mesozoic and the
preceding Palezoic, another occurred at the end of the Triassic period, and a
third occurred in the boundary of Mesozoic and the subsequent Cenozoic,
resulting in the end of the dinosaurs.

It saw the evolution of the dinosaurs, the first mammals, early birds and
the flowering plants, the Mesozoic has remained the subject of discussions
among the geoscience communities. Extensive literature is available on various
aspects of the Permian-Triassic and the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinctions
and the associated Triassic and Cretaceous periods.

3. Cenozoic
 Recognized as the most recent of the three major subdivisions of animal
history, the Cenozoic Era began about 65 million years ago and continues into
the present. This era is also sometimes referred to as the 'Age of Mammals'
because the largest land have been mammals during that time. But, this was
soon denoted as a misnomer when facts like the history of mammals beginning
long before the Cenozoic began and the diversity of life during the Cenozoic
being far wider than mammals negated this statement.

The term Cenozoic, first spelled 'Kainozoic,' was derived from the Greek
phrase 'recent life.' This era is divided into three periods, namely:

● Paleogene Period
- began 65-23 million years ago
- consists of the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epoch
● Neogene Period
- began 23-2.6 million years ago
- includes the Miocene and Pliocene epoch
● Quaternary Period
- from 2.6 million years ago until today
- consisting of the Pleistocene and Holocene epoch
- Though it is widely accepted that we are still in the Holocene
epoch, some scientists argue that we have already entered the
Anthropocene epoch. An article from the scientific journal
Environmental Science & Technology in 2010 reported that
scientists made the case for a new epoch, blaming humans for
causing a drastic shift in conditions.

The mammals that survived the Cretaceous period flourished during the
start of the Paleogene period. Rodents and small horses, such as
Hyracotherium, become abundant later in this time alongside the rise of
rhinoceroses and elephants. Dogs, cats, and pigs become commonplace as the
period progresses. Dinosaurs became extinct except for a few birds that were
labeled as dinosaurs, the most famous of which was the Titanis while the
Diatryma, a large flightless bird, thrived. Early primates, including early humans,
emerged during the Neogene period. During this time, bovids such as cattle,
sheep, goats, antelope, and gazelle, thrived. The later Quaternary period was
soon dominated by cave lions, saber-toothed cats, cave bears, giant deer, woolly
rhinoceroses, and woolly mammoths.

Plantlife had a chance to develop during the Cenozoic era without the
dinosaurs. Notably, almost every surviving plant today has its origins in the
Cenozoic era. Forests engulfed most of North America in the early years of the
era. Though as the climate cooled, forests died off and left open many patches
 and areas of free terrain. Sharks, whales, and other marine species increased as
the oceans widened. Bass, trout, and other freshwater species thrived in the
Great Lakes, which formed in the western United States during the Eocene
epoch.

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