Earth’s Past

The Geologic Time Scale

Earth’s history is divided different sections of time
The sections are determined by the living things
and the rock record
The geologic time scale is broken up into eons, eras,
periods, and sometimes epochs
Epochs – Divide
periods

Periods – Divide eras

Eras – Divide eons

Eons – Longest segment

of geologic time
 Changes
Earth has changed dramatically over time
Earth atmosphere initially comprised of CO2,
Sulfur Dioxide, Water Vapor, and Nitrogen
Liquid Oceans Developed
Oxygen (O2) entered the atmosphere with the
appearance of photosynthetic organisms, such as
algae
Living things have evolved and mass extinctions
have occurred
 Evolution
Since appearing on Earth, animals and plants have
been changing in appearance, size, and structure
This change is called evolution.
In the 1800’s, Charles Darwin called the process of the
species that survive due to traits better suited to the
environment natural selection
 The Precambrian (4.5-543 mya)

Precambrian time includes all geologic time before

the Cambrian period in the Paleozoic era.
This is the combination of the
Hadean
Archean
Proterozoic
The Precambrian
Hadean●Archean●Proterozoic
Hadean Eon
The Formation of Earth
Meteor Impacts
No Life
Volcanic Activity
Formation of Early Atmosphere from the gases that
escape from the magma
Cooling of Water Vapor to Form Oceans
The Precambrian
Hadean●Archean●Proterozoic
Archean Eon
(3.8-2.5 bya)
Started with the formation of
the crust and first rocks (3.8
bya)

The Cratons are the oldest

Archean rocks
The Precambrian
Hadean●Archean●Proterozoic
The first evidence of life is
found in Archean rocks
Simple bacteria (3.8 bya)
Cyanobacteria – simple
single celled organisms
(3.5 bya)
 Trapped in sediment they
form structures called
stromatolites
Photosynthesis began ~3
bya
The Precambrian
Hadean●Archean●Proterozoic
Proterozoic Eon
(2.5 bya -543 mya)
Abundant volcanic activity
No life on land
All organisms had soft
bodies
Multicellular life began (2.1
bya)
Taxa such as jellyfish and
worms appear at the end of
the Proterozoic (1 bya)
Snowball earth
Rondinia
 Paleozoic Era (543-290 mya)
This era is the beginning of an abundant fossil record
It is broken up into six periods
Cambrian
Ordovician
Silurian
Devonian
Carboniferous
Permian
Paleozoic
Cambrian●Ordovician●Silurian●Devonian● Carboniferous●Permian
Cambrian Period (543-490mya)
The most commonly preserved
Cambrian animal is the trilobite, a
crablike invertebrate.
Very little mountain building
Warm oceans
All life in water
Cambrian Explosion
Hard Shells evolved leaving a better
fossil record
Paleozoic
Cambrian●Ordovician●Silurian●Devonian● Carboniferous●Permian
Ordovician Period (490-
443mya)
The graptolite is a useful index
fossil of the Ordovician.
Appalachian Mountains formed
as tectonic plates crashed into
one another
All life in water
Paleozoic
Cambrian●Ordovician●Silurian●Devonian● Carboniferous●Permian
Silurian Period (443-417 mya)
The eurypterid is sometimes called
a sea scorpion is a good index
fossil .
Evolution of terrestrial (land)
 The first land animals included
distant relatives of spiders,
millipedes, and scorpions.
The geologic time scale is broken
up into…
1. Centuries, scores,
decades, years, and
months
2. Eons, eras, periods, and
sometimes epochs
3. Units
4. Pounds and ounces
Which statement is true?
1. An epoch is bigger than
a period
2. An era is bigger than an
eon
3. An epoch is bigger than
an eon
4. An era is bigger than a
period
What gave the earth the great majority of its
oxygen in the atmosphere?
1. Aliens
2. Pollution
3. Cyan- bacteria
4. Comets
5. It was there in the first
place
What is evolution?
1. Mass extinction of
plants and/or animals
2. Plants/animals
changing and adapting
to better suit their
environment
3. A time period
4. An awesome band
name \m/
What is the oldest time period in
Earth’s history?
1. Proterozoic
2. Archean
3. Hadean
4. Jurassic
5. Cretaceous
When was the first evidence of life
found?
1. Proterozoic
2. Archean
3. Hadean
4. Jurassic
5. Cretaceous
6. Silurian
When was the first evidence of life
on land found?
1. Proterozoic
2. Archean
3. Hadean
4. Jurassic
5. Cretaceous
6. Silurian
Paleozoic
Cambrian●Ordovician●Silurian●Devonian● Carboniferous●Permian
Devonian Period (417-354 mya)
“Age of the Fish”
Lung fish first appeared
(ancestor to amphibians)
First appearance of forests
consisting of ferns, giant
rushes, and primitive conifers.
Paleozoic
Cambrian●Ordovician●Silurian●Devonian● Carboniferous●Permian
Carboniferous Period
AKA: Mississippian and
Pennsylvanian Periods
Mississippian Period:
Crinoids, which look like
plants, are actually
invertebrate animals related
to sea stars.
Foraminifera are one-celled
organisms with tiny calcite
shells.
Paleozoic
Cambrian●Ordovician●Silurian●Devonian●
Carboniferous●Permian
Pennsylvanian Period
First appearance of reptiles, the first true land
vertebrates (with backbone)
Large insects including early ancestors of the
cockroach
Huge fern forest covered large areas. From the
accumulation of the remains of these forests we
got today´s coal deposits
 Paleozoic
Cambrian●Ordovician●Silurian●Devonian●
Carboniferous●Permian
 Permian Period
 Dry climate
 Widespread mountain building caused by continental collisions
 Mass extinction ended the period and the Paleozoic Era
 Marine cephalopods and reptiles were among the survivors
 First mammal-like reptiles
 Mesozoic Era (248-65 mya)
The Mesozoic Era “Age of the Reptiles”
Triassic Period
Jurassic Period
Cretaceous Period
 Mesozoic
Triassic●Jurassic●Cretaceous
Triassic Period (248-206
mya)
Dinosaurs made their first
appearance on land.
Some of the first dinosaurs
were about the size of a cat.
Cephalopods called
ammonites are an
important index fossil.
During most of the Triassic,
almost all of Earth’s land
was joined as the
supercontinent Pangaea.
Mesozoic
Triassic●Jurassic●Cretaceous
Jurassic Period
Many larger
dinosaurs, including
brachiosaurus and
Allosaurus
Morphing insects
like flies and
caterpillars appeared
First birds appeared
Mesozoic
Triassic●Jurassic●Cretaceous
Cretaceous Period
The largest dinosaurs
lived during this period,
often exceeding 25 meters
in length. (T-rex,
Brachiosaurs)
The appearance of
flowering plants is
perhaps the greatest
event.
Modern trees developed.
Ex. oak, maple, birch.
Mesozoic
Triassic●Jurassic●Cretaceous
Continents appeared much as they
do today.
Evidence supports asteroid
collision caused mass extinction at
end of period
This ended the Mesozoic Era (183
million years of dinosaur
domination)
Mammals survived the mass
extinction.
K-t level is an ash layer that is
universal very rich in iridium
 Cenozoic Era (65 mya -present)
Regarded as Earth’s recent history
“The Age of the Mammals”
Divided into three periods:
Paleogene
Neogene
Quaternary
Cenozoic
Paleogene●Neogene●Quaternary

Paleogene Period
Modern Mountain
Ranges:Rockies, the
Alps, Himalayas,
Global climate
cooled
Cenozoic
Paleogene●Neogene●Quaternary
Neogene Period
Appearance of grasses
lead to explosion of
grazing animals such as
sheep and cows
Modern forms of the
horse, camel, and
elephant debuted here
 Cenozoic
Paleogene●Neogene●Quaternary
Quaternary Period
Great temperature fluctuations from warm
to cold, leading to increased rates of
extinction and evolution
First appearance of humans
What era did crinoids appear?
1. Precambrian
2. Paleozoic
3. Mesozoic
4. Cenozoic
What era did reptiles first appear?
1. Precambrian
2. Paleozoic
3. Mesozoic
4. cenozoic
What period did forests of fern
appeard on land?
1. Cambrian
2. Carboniferous
3. Permian
4. Jurassic
What was the Mesozoic Era most
known for?
1. First appearance of life
2. First appearance of
oxygen in the
atmosphere
3. First appearance of
land dinosaurs
4. First appearance of
humans
Which period saw the largest
dinosaurs?
1. Cambrian
2. Ordovician
3. Silurian
4. Triassic
5. Jurassic
6. Cretaceous
7. Hadean
8. Mississippian
What Peroiod did mammals first
appear?
1. Quaternary
2. Jurassic
3. Cretaceous
4. Hadean
5. Permian
What period did homo sapoiens
first appear?
1. Quaternary
2. Jurassic
3. Cretaceous
4. Hadean
5. Permian