EARTH AND LIFE

SCIENCE
• Performing the first activity makes you imagine and look back at the
history of the Earth from the beginning to the present.
• As if you are watching a movie that shows pictures on how Earth looked
like billion years ago. Fast-forwarding, you see so many extraordinary
changes.
• In the beginning, there was no life on Earth.
• As many years went by, living things existed, grew, flourished, and even
contributed to more changes in our planet.
 Geologic Time requires an understanding of the Laws of Nature.
• It means that how things work today is the same as they were before. It never changed. The discovery of fossils
or rocks is very helpful to scientists because it can be used as an instrument to interpret the past.

• The different clues helped the scientists understand that Earth has unique features.
• The place where we live right now probably looked different before.
• And it is expected that it will no longer be the same in the future to come.
• There were a lot of attempts to form a Geologic Time Scale that can be applied in any place on Earth.
• But the detailed studies of rocks and fossils conducted by scientists resulted in the order of geologic periods we
used today.

• Scientists divided the history of Earth into a chain of time intervals.

• These time intervals are unequal in terms of numbers of days or hours and vary in length.
• The division of Geologic Time is based on the significant events on Earth.
• The layers on the surface of the Earth, from the recent origin down to the most ancient, made possible to split
Geological Time into Eons, Eras and Periods.
• These are the periods that divide the history and evolution of Earth.
 THE CONCEPT MAP BELOW
SUMMARIZES THE GEOLOGICAL TIME
SCALE
• At present, the Geologic Time Scale is divided into big portions of time
known as EONS.
• Eons are further divided into ERAS.
• Eras are divided into PERIODS.
• The Precambrian Eon is the point of time in which our planet started to
form. During this time, there was no formation of any organism. What are
evident are the abiotic features of the earth. It represents more than 80
percent of the total records of geologic time and supported with pieces of
evidence found in rocks.
• During the Phanerozoic Eon, living organisms like plants and animals
existed. It constitutes the time of multicellular life on Earth and the
evolutionary process happened. This eon is further divided into the
Paleozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, Cenozoic Era. Significant events of Earth
are used to determine the boundaries of every Era.
• Volcanic eruptions can have an extreme impact on the lives of
organisms. Water, land, or soil and air are affected. When
people see that they are no longer safe in the area, they are
forced to leave their properties and belongings to be alive.
The following are the volcano hazards and its impact:
• 1. Pyroclastic Flow and Surges
• A mixture of ash, rock fragments and gas materials that leave
devastating effects on the area in which they flow.
• 2. Ballistic Projectiles
• These are rocks from an erupting volcano blasted into the air.
• 3. Lahar
• It is a mudflow from a mixture of volcanic water and rock fragments. It moves down
the slopes of the volcano into the surrounding area and destroying everything on its
way.
• 4. Volcanic Gases
• Gases present in toxic amount trapped in cavities in volcanic rocks dissolved in
magma or lava or through groundwater and is heated by volcanic activity.
• 5. Ash Falls
• These are ashes produced during a volcanic eruption. It can destroy vegetation,
malfunctions engine, collapse roofs, and endanger health of people. Ashfall
continues even after the explosion and can affect the neighboring areas.
• 6. Tsunamis
• These are substantial sea waves that occur when an underwater volcano erupts. Its
wave height could be higher than 5 meters. It can cause the death of humans,
animals, and destruction of infrastructures or properties when it hits offshore.
• Earthquake is another form of geologic hazard. It is a shaking of the ground due to
the released energy that forms seismic waves. Seismograph detects earthquakes
that are less felt. Earthquake hazards include the following:
• 1. Unsecured things that are open.
• 2. Electronic devices and appliances.
• 3. Grounds Breaking
• It can cause mild or severe damage to properties or structures. The effects depend
on the magnitude of an earthquake or its distance from the epicenter.
• 4. Liquefaction
• The strength and hardness of the soil are reduced. It happens when the
groundwater mixed with ground soil that makes the soil less stable.
• 5. Ground subsidence
• Grounds sink due to earthquake.
• Landslide is a geological hazard that includes movement of any
debris, masses of rock, or soil down a slope. It can occur in the
offshore and coastal environment but composed of a weak strength of
soil resting on a steep slope. Landslides hazards are falling debris
from a steep slope, pieces of rocks fall, and mudflow. Human activities
like mining, deforestation, quarrying, digging, and conversion of land
to residential or industrial areas contribute to this natural
phenomenon.