Geological History PDF

GEOLOGIC HISTORY Billion Time Million...

GEOLOGIC HISTORY Billion Time Million Life on Earth Precambrian Distribution Epoch Years Era Years Era Period Events (million years ago) Ago of Fossils Ago Holocene (.012- present) End of Ice Ages; human populations grow.50 QUATERNARY Pleistocene 2.6-.012 Humans, mammoths, giant beaver 2.6 Pliocene 5.3-2.6 Large carnivorous mammals; diverse human ancestors Ediacaran Fauna; first NEOGENE 66.0-present CENOZOIC multicellular organisms (all Miocene 23.0-5.3 Abundant grazing mammals; giant crocodiles 23 NEOPROTEROZIC 1.0 bya-539 mya soft-body and marine) 635-541 Oligocene 34-23 Grasslands become widespread SPONGES Abundant Stromatolites, other diverse microbial life Eocene 56-34 First horses and whales PALEOGENE Cryogenian Period (Time of Snowball Earth glaciation) Paleocene 66-56 Many modern groups of mammals evolve 66 Mass extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs, many land plants, ammonoids, and other marine organisms E O N Grasses first evolve. Earliest placental mammals 1.0 Late Cretaceous 101-66 MESOPROTEROZOIC CRETACEOUS Giant marine reptiles (ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs) Rays and modern sharks become common P R O T E R O Z O I C Early Cretaceous 145-101 1.6-1.0 Oldest rocks in Earliest flowering plants New York State 1.3 Diverse bony fishes 145 Earliest birds; peak of sauropods and ammonoids 1.5 MESOZOIC 252-66.0 Late Jurassic 162-145 Abundant dinosaurs and ammonoids Middle Jurassic 175-162 E O N JURASSIC Oldest sauropods PALEOPROTEROZOIC Early Jurassic 201-175 E O N First protists 1.9 2.0 201 Fifth largest extinction event 2.5-1.6 P R E C A M B R I A N First eukaryotes 2.1 Dinosaur tracks in NY (Rockland County) Late Triassic 237-201 Earliest mammals Oxygen Revolution Oxygen from ocean TRIASSIC P H A N E R O Z O I C escapes to Earth’s atmosphere 2.4-2.1 Earliest dinosaurs Middle Triassic 247-237 Early Triassic 252-247 252 Largest mass extinction of many land and marine plants Late Permian 260-252 and animals 2.5 Middle Permian 273-260 Ancestors to mammals were diverse PERMIAN NEOARCHEAN Oceanic Oxygen Reptiles more common than amphibians for first time (produced by Early Permian 299-273 2.8-2.5 photosynthesizing 299 cyanobacteria) combined Early Middle Late PENNSYLVANIAN 323-315 315-307 307-299 Extensive coal-forming vegetation in swamps with iron-forming repeated 323 CARBONIFEROUS iron-oxide rich layers on Late Mississippian 331-323 Abundant amphibians ocean floor E O N PALEOARCHEAN MESOARCHEAN Middle Mississippian 347-331 3.0 MISSISSIPPIAN Large and numerous vascular plants 3.2-2.8 Earliest reptiles Early Mississippian 359-347 STROMATOLITES 359 A R C H E A N Late Devonian 383-359 Extinction of many marine organisms, possibly caused by climate change due to spread of forests PALEOZOIC 539-252 mya Earliest amphibians and seed plants DEVONIAN Middle Devonian 393-383 Earth’s earliest forests - Gilboa and Cairo, NY 3.6-3.2 3.5 Abundant fishes and brachiopods Oldest undisputed Early Devonian 419-393 evidence for life Earliest ammonoids (stromatolites) 3.5 419 Pridoli 423-419 Abundant eurypterids in NY; earliest sharks Oldest evidence for Earliest land animals (arthropods) EOARCHEAN Ludlow 427-423 biological carbon 3.7 SILURIAN Wenlock 433-427 Earliest fish with jaws; first vascular plants 4.0-3.6 Llandovery 444-433 Widespread reefs; rising global temperatures 444 Mass extinction affecting all major groups of marine organisms Late Ordovician 458-444 4.0 Oldest known rocks ORDOVICIAN Middle Ordovician 470-458 Earth’s first reef-containing corals, first land plants (Acasta Gneiss, Canada) H A D E A N Early Ordovician 485-470 Rapid diversification of Paleozoic animals 485 E O N Furongian 497-485 Extinction of many early life forms Miaolingian 509-497 Peak trilobite diversity Oldest known zircons CAMBRIAN (Jack Hills, Australia) 4.4 Epoch 2 521-509 Earliest trilobites; earliest fishes Formation of Moon 4.5 Terreneuvian 539-521 First life forms with hard shells 4.6 Estimated time of origin 539 of Earth and Solar System 542 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O Cryptozoon Columnaria Heliophyllum Dinorthis Mucrospirifer Eucalyptocrinites Phyllograptus Plethopeltis Hydnoceras Halysites Lingulella Pentamerus Iocrinus Ancyrocrinus Stimulograptus Earth & Space Sciences Reference Tables — 2024 Edition 6