Geological Timescale

History of Life on Earth: Geological Timescale
Evolution 4 Major Division of GTS (Structure of GTS)

- through the process of descent with ● Eon
modification, change in the characteristics ● Era
of a species over several generations, and ● Period
relies on the process of natural selection. ● Epoch
Evolutionary Biology Eon

- the study of how evolution occurs. Biological - the largest division of geological time scale;
populations evolve through genetic changes - half billion – nearly 2 billion years
that correspond to changes in the - are divided into “eras”
organisms' observable traits.
Era
4.6 billion years old - 2nd largest division of geological time scale;
- age of the Earth is approximately - the division that spans time periods of tens
to hundreds of millions of years
Geological Timescale - divided into “periods”
- a record of life forms and geological events
in Earth’s history Period
- that divides Earth’s history based on major - a division of geologic history with spans of
past events. no more than 100 million years
- a “calendar” of Earth's history - divided into “epochs”
- subdivides geologic history into units
Epoch
Strata/stratum - the smallest division of geological time scale
- a layer or a series of layers of rock in the
ground. Precambrian Eon (88% of Earth’s History)
- is made up of 3 large eons:
Fossils - Hadean – “hell-like”
- remnant, impression, or trace of an animal - Archean – “ancient”
or plant of a past geologic age that has - Proterozoic – “first life”
been preserved in Earth's crust. - the longest eon totaling over 4B years
- Examples: A permineralized trilobite,
Asaphus kowalewskii & Three small Hadean Eon (Hellfire & Brimstone)
ammonite fossils, each approximately 1.5 - from 4.6 –3.8 billion years ago
cm across - the formation of the solar system through
planetary bombardment
Fossil record - the sun was 70% as bright
- the complex data recorded in fossils - massive volcanism produces a young
worldwide atmosphere probably made up of CO2,
- is the primary source of information about H2O, CH4, & NH3
the history of life on Earth - no fossils were found in this old
Note: Laws or principles of GTS that apply like the Archean Eon (Oldest rocks)
law of inclusion, superposition, and cross-cutting - from 3.8 – 2.5 billion years ago
relationships (interpret and determine the sequence - the surface of the earth turned from molten
of geologic events) to solid rock
- the oldest rocks known have been dated to
Types of Geologic Dating this eon
- ways of determining the age of a rock - potentially the first simple bacteria/algae
fossils
Relative dating - continents begin to form
- is used to determine the relative order of
past events by comparing the age of one Proterozoic Eon (Big changes)
object to another. It states that rocks - from 2500 – 570 million years ago
positioned below other rocks are older than - largest Eon (~2 billion years total)
the rocks above. - the atmosphere enriches with oxygen due to
bacteria—the ozone layer forms too
Absolute dating - first multi-cell fossils – simple Stromatolites
- finds the actual age of the rock or states the (algae)
approximate age in years of the rock (uses - eukaryotic cell fossils
radiometric technique)
- extensive glaciations during “Snowball - acompletely new invertebrate species that
Earth” developed in the Triassic was the
Belemnite.
Phanerozoic Eon (Visible life) - first dinosaurs were evolving
- three Eras spanning from 570MYA to
present
- Paleozoic – “ancient life” Jurassic Period
- Mesozoic – “middle life” - age of the Dinosaurs
- Cenozoic – “recent life” - the largest dinosaurs during the Jurassic
- the greatest diversity of land and ocean period were the sauropods.
organisms - Theropods walked on two legs and were
- the fossil record indicates complex carnivorous.
organisms thrive
- several mass extinctions Cretaceous Period
- we are still currently living in the - the last and longest segment of the
Phanerozoic Mesozoic Era. It lasted approximately 79
million years.
Paleozoic Era (Cambrian Explosion) - During the Cretaceous Period, more ancient
- Spans 570-245 MYA birds took flight, joining the pterosaurs in
- 6 periods of Paleozoic the air
- Cambrian
- Ordovician Cenozoic (Rise of Mammals)
- Silurian - 2 Periods spanning from 66 MYA to the
- Devian present day
- Carboniferous - Tertiary
- Peman - Quaternary
- at beginning of tile Cambrian for record - 7 Epochs are contained within the two
goes through an experiential increase in periods
diversity and complexity - Paleocene
- Eocene
- trilobites, seed ferns, & amphibians are - Oligocene
major index fossils of the Paleozoic - Miocene
- massive swamps resulting in the coal - Pliocene
deposits of today - Pleistocene
- disastrous extinction at the end of the - Holocene
Permian wiping out ~90% of all marine & - we are now in the Holocene Cenozoic has
~70% of all land organisms the fossils of the organisms which were able
to survive
Mesozoic (Rise of Dinosaurs) - age of Mammals
- has 3 Periods from 245 – 66 MYA
- Triassic - cenozoic represents less than 2% of Earth’s
- Jurassic history
- Cretaceous - mammals rise and become the dominant
- warmer climates dominate organism on land
- Gymnosperms (nonflowering, naked seed) - angiosperms (flowers) become the
appear and become the dominant plant dominant plant life on land
- age of Reptiles - this probably helped to allow the rise
of birds and mammals that both feed
- reptiles rise, dinosaurs dominate, and on flowers and plants
shelled eggs help to protect offspring - ice age advances occur during the
- some reptiles take to the sky (birds) Pleistocene
- some reptiles return to the ocean but - many organisms go extinct with ice
keep their air lungs age climate changes
- the most famous mass extinction in the
world occurs at the end of the Cretaceous Tertiary Period
- the main theory is asteroid impact - Marks the beginning of the Cenozoic Era
- The Paleocene Epoch - 65 to 54 million years ago
changed the climate so drastically
- The Eocene Epoch - 54 to 38 million years ago
that the majority of animals failed to - The Oligocene Epoch - 38 to 24 million years ago
adapt - The Miocene Epoch - 24 to 5 million years ago
- The Pliocene Epoch- 5 to 1.8 million years ago
Triassic Period
Quarternary Period
- began with an ice age about 1.8 million
years ago. It is often called the Age of
Humans.
- The Pleistocene Epoch (Ice Age) - 1.8
million to 11,000 years ago
- The Holocene Epoch - 11,000 years ago to
present

Geological Timescale

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Geological Timescale

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History of Life on Earth: Geological Timescale

Evolution 4 Major Division of GTS (Structure of GTS)

Evolutionary Biology Eon

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