It is theorized that the true age of the earth is about 4.

6 billion years old, formed at about the same

time as the rest of our solar system. The oldest rocks geologists have been able to find are 3.9
billion years old. Using radiometric dating methods to determine the age of rocks means scientists
have to rely on when the rock was initially formed (as in - when its internal minerals first cooled). In
the infancy of our home planet the entire earth was molten rock - a magma ocean.

Since we can only measure as far back in time as we had solid rock on this planet, we are limited in
how we can measure the real age of the earth. Due to the forces of plate tectonics, our planet is
also a very dynamic one; new mountains forming, old ones wearing down, volcanoes melting and
reshaping new crust. The continual changing and reshaping of the earth's surface that involves the
melting down and reconstructing of old rock has pretty much eliminated most of the original rocks
that came with earth when it was newly formed. So the age is a theoretical age.

Scientists are still trying to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of earth: When did "life" first appear
and how did it happen? It is estimated that the first life forms on earth were primitive, one-celled
creatures that appeared about 3 billion years ago. That's pretty much all there was for about the
next two billion years. Then suddenly those single celled organisms began to evolve into
multicellular organisms. Then an unprecedented profusion of life in incredibly complex forms began
to fill the oceans. Some crawled from the seas and took residence on land, perhaps to escape
predators in the ocean. A cascading chain of new and increasingly differentiated forms of life
appeared all over the planet, only to be virtually annihilated by an unexplained mass extinction. It
would be the first of several mass extinctions in Earth's history.

Scientists have been looking increasingly to space to explain these mass extinctions that have been
happening almost like clockwork since the beginning of "living" time. Perhaps we've been getting
periodically belted by more space rocks (ie. asteroids), or the collision of neutron stars happening
too close for comfort? Each time a mass extinction occurred, life found a way to come back from the
brink. Life has tenaciously clung to this small blue planet for the last three billion years. Scientists are
finding new cues as to how life first began on earth in some really interesting places - the deep
ocean.

Checking the Fossil Record

Scientists have studied rocks using radiometric dating methods to determine the age of earth.
Another really cool thing they've found in rocks that tells us more about the story of earth's past are
the remains of living creatures that have been embedded in the rocks for all time. We call
these fossils. It has been the careful study of earth's fossil record that has revealed the exciting
picture about the kinds of creatures that once roamed this planet. Fossilized skeletons of enormous
creatures with huge claws and teeth, ancient ancestors of modern day species (such as sharks) that
have remained virtually unchanged for millions of years, and prehistoric jungles lush with plant life,
all point to a profusion of life and a variety of species that continues to populate the earth, even in
the face of periodic mass extinctions.

By studying the fossil record scientists have determined that the earth has experienced very different
climates in the past. In fact, general climactic conditions, as well as existing species, are used
to define distinct geologic time periods in earth's history. For example, periodic warming of the
earth - during the Jurassicand Cretaceous periods - created a profusion of plant and animal life that
left behind generous organic materials from their decay. These layers of organic material built up
over millions of years undisturbed. They were eventually covered by younger, overlying sediment
and compressed, giving us fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas.

Alternately, the earth's climate has also experienced periods of extremely cold weather for such
prolonged periods that much of the surface was covered in thick sheets of ice. These periods
of geologic time are called ice ages and the earth has had several in its history. Entire species of
warmer-climate species died out during these time periods, giving rise to entirely new species of
living things which could tolerate and survive in the extremely cold climate. Believe it or not, humans
were around during the last ice age - the Holocene (about 11,500 years ago) - and we managed to
survive. Creatures like the Woolly Mammoth - a distant relative of modern-day elephants - did not.

Read about a really exciting recent find of a perfectly-preserved, frozen Woolly Mammoth! This was
a particularly exciting find because it wasn't a fossil that scientists found, but actual tissue, which still
has its DNA record intact.

Also, read more about the Ice Man - another frozen tissue sample of a human being who was frozen
into the high mountains of France. He was just recently discovered as thousands of years of ice
pack have finally melted from around his body.
The 4.6 Billion Year History Of Earth –
Hadean and Archean Era – Lasting 2.1
Billion Years – From 4.6 To 2.5 Billion Years
Ago
EARTHS GEOLOGICAL CLOCK
The above is Earths Geological Clock showing events in time drawn to scale from
Earths initial creation 4.6 billion years ago to the present. As you can see, almost 88%
of Earths existence was in the Precambrian Era which is the earliest era of earth history,
ending 570 million years ago, during which the earth’s crust formed and life first
appeared in the seas. .

The following chart shows the same but not to scale. It shows more detail such as the
formation of the Earths foundation, Moon, various rocks, fossils, and the progressive
creation of various life forms. Each life form contributed and had an important role in the
development of our present-day Earth. These charts will be useful references as we
discuss major events in the history of our Earth.

Timeline of Earth’s History

In order to simplify periods of time in the development of our Earth, we are going to look
at six periods of time call Eras or Eons. They are from the beginning until now and are
known as follows:

PRECAMBRIAN EON – 88% of Earth’s History

Hadean Era from 4.6 to 3.8 billion years ago

Archean Era from 3.8 to 2.5 billion years ago

Proterozoic Era from 2.5 to 0.57 billion years ago

PHANEROZOIC EON – 12% of Earth’s History

Paleozoic Era from 570 to 245 million years ago

Mesozoic Era from 245 to 66.4 million years ago

Cenozoic Era from 66.4 million years ago to the present

EARTHS GEOLOGICAL CLOCK

The above is Earths Geological Clock showing events in time drawn to scale from
Earths initial creation 4.6 billion years ago to the present. As you can see, almost 88%
of Earths existence was in the Precambrian Era which is the earliest era of earth history
ending 570 million years ago, during which the earth’s crust formed and life first
appeared in the seas. .

The following chart shows the same but not to scale. It shows more detail such as the
formation of the Earths foundation, Moon, various rocks, fossils, and the progressive
creation of various life forms. Each life form contributed and had an important role in the
development of our present-day Earth. These charts will be useful references as we
discuss major events in the history of our Earth.
Two Major ways of being able to date rocks :relative
and numerical dating

Relative dating> is the practice of dating something by what is around it

Numerical dating> is allows us to put a more precise number on an

object s age