Geologic Time Scale

MARK C. BALONQUITA
 Testing
Your
Prior
Knowledge
 See what you know
ALREADY!!
 1. How old are you?
 2. How old is the Earth?
 3. When did the dinosaurs
become extinct?
 4. When did the greatest
extinction occur on Earth?
 5. Did dinosaurs exist at the
same time as humans?
 What do you know
ALREADY???
 6. In what era do we live?
 7. Put these letter on the time line in
the best order
 T = Today
 B = Beginning of time
 D = Dinosaurs Became Extinct
 R = The Oldest Known Rocks
 H = First Humans
 How Old is
the Earth?
 1654: Archbishop James
Ussher of Ireland studied the
timing of biblical events
described in the Old
Testament, and concluded that
the world was created on -
October 23, 4004 B.C.E at
9:00 AM.
 Thus, the age of the earth,
based on Ussher's results,
would be: 4004 + 2013 =
6,017 years old.
 Many calculations of this type
have been done by other
biblical scholars, and in
general, the Earth was found
to be about 6,000 years old
based on these types of
calculations.
Current Estimate of
the Age of the Earth
 Scientific methods of
estimating the age of the
earth are based on analysis of
evidence found in rocks and on
radiometric dating .
 Based on these methods,
scientists have concluded that
the earth is much more than
6,000 years old.
 Recent estimates of the age
of the earth:
 4.6 billion years old

 (4.6 billion = 4,600,000,000)
Age of the Earth
 Imagine squeezing Earth’s 4.6 billion
year
history into a 24-hour day.
Earth forms at midnight.

7:00 am- Earliest one-celled organisms

appear.
7:00 am-9:00 pm- Simple, soft-bodied
organisms such as jellyfish and worms
appear.
Little after 9:00 pm- More complex
organisms evolve in the oceans.
Little after 10:00 pm-Reptiles and
insects first appear.
Just before 11:00 pm- Dinosaurs
arrive
11:30 pm- Dinosaurs go extinct.
11:59:59- Humans appear one
second before midnight.
The Fossil
Record
 A fossil is any evidence of past
life
 Examples – footprints,
original remains of
plants/animals, molds &
casts
fossil of Macrocranion tupaiodon

Pterodactyl fossil
Aegrotocatellus jaggeri – A species of
trilobite, an extinct marine animal with a
hard shell

This fossil of
Sinosauropteryx preserves
short downy feathers on the
head, neck, back and tail
Dunkleosteus (30 ft long; bony skull
shown here is about 1 meter high)
Extinct at the end of the Devonian
Geologic Time Scale

 During the 16, 17 and 1800's

geologists developed a
geologic time scale based on
relative ages.
Geologic Time

 Geologic time is measured in

millions of years.

 How do we know about such

long periods of time?

 Geochronology: The science of

determining the ages of rocks.
 What is the Earth’s time
scale?
 The Geological time scale is a
record of the life forms and
geological events in Earth’s
history.
 Scientists developed the time
scale by studying rock layers
and fossils world wide.
 Radioactive dating helped
determine the absolute divisions
in the time scale.
Divisions of Geologic Time
 Eras are subdivided into
periods...periods are subdivided
into epochs.
Era

Period

Epoch
Divisions of Geologic Time

 Geological time begins with

Precambrian Time.
Precambrian time covers
approximately 88% of Earth’s
history.
FOUR Eras…

 PRE-CAMBRIAN – 88% of earth’s

history

 Paleozoic (ancient life)

 544 million years ago…lasted 300 million yrs

 Mesozoic (middle life)

 245 million years ago…lasted 180 million yrs

 Cenozoic (recent life)

 65 million years ago…continues through
present day
Today…
 Today we are in the Holocene
Epoch of the Quaternary Period of
the Cenozoic Era.

Which unit is the largest?

Which unit is the smallest?
 Fossil Record
 The dating of all
fossils is included in
the Geological Time
Scale. This scale
divides the time that
the earth has
existed into 4 eras.
 Eras are then
divided into periods
based on common
events in that time
period.
Pre-Cambrian
 Began with the
formation of
the Earth 4.6
billion years
ago.
 Bacteria
appeared 3.5
billion years
ago, followed
by algae and
fungi.
 Paleozoic Era
 Divided into 5 periods:
 Cambrian period -
Sponges, snails, clams
and worms evolve
 Ordovician period -
First fishes evolved and
other species become
extinct
 Silurian period - Land
plants, insects and
spiders appear
 Devonian period -
Amphibians evolve and
cone-bearing plants start
to appear.
 Carbonferous period -
Tropical forests appear
and reptiles evolve.
 Permian period - Seed
plants become common
and insects and retiles
become widespread.
Sea animals and some
amphibians begin to
disappear.
Trilobites
 Lived in Earth’s ancient seas
 Extinct before the dinosaurs
came into existence
 Cambrian Period is know as
the “Age of the Trilobites”
 Brachiopods

 Marine animals that resemble clams.

Early Fish

Early fish did not have jaws.

Some species of sharks
were in existence at this
time.
Frilled Shark that was found in Japan in January 2007. This shark
was considered a “living fossil”
Early Land Plants

Mosses

Cone bearing plants

Ferns
 Mesozoic Era
 Divided into 3 periods:
 Triassic period - Turtles
and crocodiles evolve and
dinosaurs appear.
 Jurassic period - Large
dinosaurs roam the world.
First mammals and birds
appear.
 Cretaceous period -
Flowering plants appear,
mammals become more
common, dinosaurs
become extinct.
Mesozoic Era

 The main plant life of this time

were Gymnosperms or plants that
produce seeds, but no flowers.
 Pine Trees

 Flowering plants appeared during

the END of this era.
 Mesozoic Era
 This era ended with a mass
extinction event about 65 million
years ago.
 Many groups of animals, including the
dinosaurs disappeared suddenly at
this time.

 Many scientists believe that this

event was caused by a comet or
asteroid colliding with the Earth.
Mesozoic Era – Mass
Extinction Event
 Asteroid or Comet collides with Earth.

 Huge cloud of smoke and dust fills the

air
 Blocks out sunlight
 Plants die
 Animals that eat plants die
 Animals that eat plant-eaters die.

 However, not all forms of life died

during this event. Many animals that
you see today are descendants from
the survivors of this extinction event.
Dinosaurs
Mesozoic Reptiles
Mesozoic Mammals
Mesozoic Plants

Flowering plants evolved

towards the end of the
Mesozoic Era.
 Cenozoic Era – Recent Life
 Began about 65 million years ago and continues
today!!!!!
 Climate was warm and mild.
 Marine animals such as whales and dolphins evolved.

 Mammals began to increase and evolve adaptations

that allowed them to live in many different
environments – land, air and the sea.
 Grasses increased and provided a food source for grazing
animals

 Many mountain ranges formed during the Cenozoic

Era
 Alps in Europe and Himalayas in India; Rocky Mountains in
the USA
Cenozoic Era
 Divided into 2 periods:
 Tertiary period - First
primates appear and
flowering plants become
the most common.
 Quaternary period -
Humans evolve and
large mammals like
woolly mammoths
become extinct.
Cenozoic Mammals
Flowering Plants were common
during the Cenozoic Era