History of Geologic Time Scale

In 1669, Danish scientist Nicolas Steno published the first law of stratigraphy (the
science of interpreting the strata, or layers of rock, in Earth’s outer surface). Steno argued
that the layers closer to the surface must be younger than the layers below them. So the
farther down you dig, he thought, the older the fossils are that you find there. But in Steno’s
day, when some people thought that fossils had literally fallen from the sky, for some
reason but this was a pretty revolutionary idea.

Building on Steno’s ideas, Italian geologist Giovanni Arduino went a step further
and began naming the layers of rock. In the 1760’s, Arduino studied the Italian Alps,
organizing their layers based on their depth and composition. The lowest layers of
metamorphic and volcanic rocks, he called the Primary layer. Above those were hard
sedimentary rocks which he called Secondary. And the top layers of softer alluvial deposits
he named Tertiary and Quaternary. But, because rock layers don’t appear in the same
order all over the world, there’s no way for geologists to compare rocks from one location
to another. Without a way to compare strata, there could be no universal time scale.

Finally, in 1819, English geologist William Smith figured out the solution to this
problem which is fossils. By comparing the remains of ancient organisms form different
rock formations, Smith could match their ages, regardless of how far apart they were. For
example, Smith realized that fossils of many early species of trilobites are found below
ammonite fossils, which are in turn below species of shellfish. So any place in the world
where you find these first trilobites, you know that you’re looking at rock that’s older than
ammonites lived. And even in the most ancient rocks, that have little or no evidence of life,
scientists can still look for signs of the very earliest major geologic events, like when
continents first formed, and even when the Earth itself cooled and solidified.

Thanks to the work of early geologists like Steno, Arduino and Smith, modern
scientists have used these and other clues to create what we now call the GEOLOGIC TIME
SCALE.

What is Geologic Time Scale?

-GTS is a system of chronological dating that relates geological strata (stratigraphy)

time. It is used by geologists, paleontologists and other Earth scientists to describe timing
and relationships of events that have occurred during Earth’s history.

-The GTS has been reworked many times to reflect the latest knowledge of Earth’s
history. It’s organized into five subgroups: Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs and Ages.
EONS- are the largest slices of time, ranging from a half billion to nearly 2 billion years long.
Eons has been divided into three eons: Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic
(present).

 HADEAN
- Comes from the Greek God “Hades”
- It began with the formation of the Earth about 4.6 billion year’s ago and
ended about 4 billion years ago.
 ARCHEAN
- also spelled Archaean Eon
- It began 4.6 billion with the formation of Earth’s crust and extended to
the start of the Proterozoic Eon.
 PROTEROZOIC
- Is also called the Cryptozoic (“Age of Hidden Life”).
- Began about 2.5 billion years ago, enough shield rock had formed to start
recognizable geologic process such as plate tectonics.
- During the Proterozoic, the atmosphere and oceans changed significantly.
 PHANEROZOIC
- Also called the Eon of “Visible life”.
- The span of geologic time extending about 542 million years from the end of
the Proterozoic Eon.
- Represents the time during which the majority of macroscopic organisms,
algal, fungal, plant and animal lived.
- The beginning of the Phanerozoic was thought to coincide with the beginning
of life.
- Phanerozoic also consists of three major divisions: the Cenozoic, Mesozoic
and Paleozoic. The “zoic” part of the words comes from the root “zoo” which
means animal. This is the same root as in the words Zoology and Zoological
Park (or Zoo).

ERAS- Eons are divided into smaller time intervals known as Eras.
- Very significant events in Earth’s history are used to determine the
boundaries of the eras.
- Divided into 3 eras: Cenezoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic
 CENEZOIC
- “cen” means recent life in a greek phrase.
- The term Cenozoic, first spelled “Kainozoic”.
- Sometimes been called the “ Age of Mammals”.
- Began about 65 million years ago and continues into the present.
 The current locations of the continents and their modern day inhabitants,
-
including humans, can be traced to this period.
 MESOZOIC
- “meso” means middle life.
- Been called the “Age of Dinosaurs” or “Age of Reptiles”
- During the Mesozoic Era, life diversified rapidly and giant reptiles, dinosaurs
and other monstrous beasts roamed the Earth.
- Begins around 252 million years ago and ended around 65 million years ago.
 PALEOZOIC
- “Paleo” means Ancient Life
- Been called the “Age of Fishes”
- Ran about 542 million years ago.
- Began with the breakup of one supercontinent and the formation of another.
- Plants became widespread. And the first vertebrate animals colonized land.

PERIODS- Eras are subdivided into periods.

- The events that bound the periods are widespread in their extent but are not as
significant as those which bound the eras.
Cenozoic
 Quaternary – is a geologic time period that encompasses the most recent 2.6
million years including the present day.
 Neogene – the second of three divisions of the Cenozoic Era.
- Means “new born”
- The Neogene encompasses the interval between 23 million and 2.6 million
years ago
 Paleogene – the 43 million years of the Paleogene period represent a crucial
interval in the evolution of mammals, birds and reptiles.

Mesozoic
 Cretaceous – was the last and longest segment of the Mesozoic Era. It lasted
approximately 79 million years. Extinction event dated at 65.5 million years ago.
 Jurassic – was the second segment of Mesozoic Era. It occurred from 199.6 to 145.5
million years ago, following the Triassic Period and preceding the Cretaceous Period.
 Triassic – was the first period of the Mesozoic Era. And occurred between 251
million and 199 million years ago. It end of the Permian Period and was a time when
life outside of the oceans began to diversify. Ended 201 million years.

Paleozoic
 Permian – the last period of the Paleozoic Era. The Permian Period began 298.9
million years ago and ended 252.2 million years ago.
 Carboniferous – lasted from about 359.2 to 299 million years ago during late
Paleozoic Era. The term “carboniferous” comes from England, in reference to the
rich deposits of coal that occur there. Carboniferous divided into two subperiods:
Pennsylvanian and Mississippian