Geolo

gic
Time
Scale
Florence
Submitted By:
Kaye Aniwer
Ma’am
Submitted To:
Melanie Negrillo
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?

- The extensive interval of time occupied by the geologic history of Earth. Formal
geologic time begins at the start of the Archean Eon and continues to the present day.
Modern geologic time scales additionally often include the Hadean Eon. Geologic time scale
was used by geologists, paleontologists, and other Earth scientists to describe the 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 years 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.
- 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 – 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. Rapid changes in climate and sea level have
occurred, and environments worldwide have been altered during this period.
 Neogene – means “new born” was designated as such to emphasize that the marine
and terrestrial fossils found in the strata of this time were more closely related to
each other than to those of the preceding period. Encompasses the interval between
23 million and 2.6 million years ago.
 Paleogene – the 43 million years of the Paleogene period represent the beginning of
the Cenozoic Period era – dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and giant marine reptiles were
conspicuously absent from the face of the Earth.
 Mesozoic
 Cretaceous – was the last and longest segment of the Mesozoic Era. Spanning 79
million years, it represents more time than has elapsed since the extinction of the
extinction of the dinosaurs, which occurred at the end of the period.
 Jurassic – during this period, Earth’s climate changed from hot and dry to humid
and subtropical. Dinosaurs, birds, and rodents. Crumbling landmasses and inland
seas. Sea monsters, sharks, and blood- red plankton. Forests of ferns, cycads, and
conifers. Warm, moist, tropical breezes. This was the Jurassic, which took place 199
to 145 million years ago.
 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 – this period which ended in the largest mass extinction the Earth has ever
known, began about 299 million years ago. The emerging supercontinent of Pangaea
presented severe extremes of climate and environment due to its vast size.
 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 sub periods:
1) Mississippian – is a shallow, low- latitude seas and lush, terrestrial swamps
covered the interior of the North American continent during this period of the
Paleozoic Era, from about 360 to 320 million years ago.
2) Pennsylvanian – second major interval of the Carboniferous Period, lasting
from 323.2 to 298.9 million year ago. The Pennsylvanian is recognized as a time
 of significant advance and retreat by shallow seas. Many non-marine areas near
the equator became coal swamps during this period.
 Devonian – is otherwise known as the Age of Fishes, as it spawned a remarkable
variety of fish. When the Devonian Period dawned about 416 million years ago, the
planet was changing its appearance.
 Silurian – this period saw animals and plants finally emerge on land. But first, there
was a period of biological regrouping following the disastrous climax to the
Ordovician. This period occurred from 443 million to 416 million years ago.
 Cambrian - this period produced the most intense burst of evolution ever known.
The Cambrian Explosion saw an incredible diversity of life emerge, including many
major animal groups alive today. Among them were the chordates, to which
vertebrates (animals with backbones) such as human belong. This lasted from 541
to 485.4 million years ago.

EPOCHS – an epoch is a subdivision of geologic time scale that is longer than an age but
short than period. Epochs are most commonly used for the younger Cenozoic Era,
where a greater collection of fossils has been found and paleontologists have more
detailed knowledge of the events that occurred during those times.
 Quaternary
 Holocene – is the current period of geologic time. Another term that is sometimes
used is the Anthropocene Epoch, because its primary characteristic is the global
changes caused by human activity. This began 12,000 to 11,500 years ago.
 Pleistocene – is typically defined as the time period that began about 2.6 million
years ago and lasted about 11, 700 years ago. The most recent Ice Age occurred
then, as glaciers covered huge parts of the planet Earth.

 Neogene
 Pliocene – climate became cooler and drier, and seasonal, similar to modern
climates. Lasted from 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago.
 Miocene – was a time of warmer global climates. Extends from about 23.03 to 5.333
million years ago.

 Paleogene
 Oligocene – the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the exact
dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. Extend from about
33.9 to 23 million years ago.
 Eocene – the oldest known fossils of most of the modern orders of mammals
appear in a brief period during the early Eocene. Lasted from about 55.8 to 33.9
million years ago.
  Paleocene – extinction of dinosaurs. Mammals became more diverse during this
period and many evolved larger body size, adopting ecological roles similar to
the now-extinct dinosaurs. Lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago.

AGES – is a subdivision of Geologic Time Scale that divides an epoch into smaller parts.

Image by Jonathan R. Hendricks