EARTH SCIENCE
HISTORY OF THE EARTH
Geologic time represented in a diagram called a geological clock, showing
the relative lengths of the eons of Earth's history and noting major events
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Meteorites represent primitive and undifferentiated (unaltered) solar system material. The Earth differentiated or
separated into the crust, mantle, and the core. Dating the Earth’s crust provides the age of the crust and not necessary
the whole Earth. The oldest known fossils are simple single celled organisms found in rocks that are 3.8 billion years
old. The first multi-cellular organism evolved around 600 million years ago.
Age of the Earth
1. The Earth has a very long history—4.6 billions of years of history.
2. The age of the Earth is based from the radioactive isotopic dating of meteorites.
3. The oldest dated rock from the Earth is only—3.8 billion years old.
Rocks and Fossils
1. The history of the earth is recorded in rocks but the rock record is inherently incompleteness. Some of the
“events” do not leave a record or are not preserved. Some of the rock record may have also been lost
through the recycling of rocks
2. Preserved in rocks are the remains and traces of plants and animals that have lived and died through-out
Earths History- fossils. The fossil record provides scientists with one of the most compelling evidence for
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Rocks, Fossils and the Geologic Time Scale
1. The Geologic Time Scale- the time line of the History of the Earth, based from the rock record.
2. Geologic time is subdivided into hierarchal intervals, the largest being Eon, followed by Era. Period, and
epoch, respectively. Subdivision of Geologic time is based from significant events in the Earth’s history as
interpreted from the rock record.
3. The mass extinction event which lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs occurred around 66.4 million years
ago marks the boundary between the Mesozoic Era (Age of the reptiles)and the Cenozoic Era (age of
mammals). The mass extinction event may have been pivotal in the rise in dominance of the mammals
during the Cenozoic Era.
Evolution of Earth’s History
1. Fossils are an essential part of subdividing the Geologic Time.
2. Biostratigraphy- a sub-discipline of stratigraphy which deals with the use of fossils in correlation and
establishing the relative ages of rocks.
3. Index fossils- are matter fossils used to define periods of Geologic Time. Ideally, index fossils are distinctive
(can be easily identified and distinguished from other fossils, widespread (distribution is not confined to a
few locality), and have limited geologic time range.
4. Ultimately, the Geologic Time scale was assigned numerical dates ( absolute dating) through the radiometric
dating of rocks.
The geological history of Earth follows the major events in Earth's past based on the geological time scale, a system
of chronological measurement based on the study of the planet's rock layers (stratigraphy). Earth formed about 4.54
billion years ago by accretion from the solar nebula, a disk-shaped mass of dust and gas left over from the formation
of the Sun, which also created the rest of the Solar System.
Earth was initially molten due to extreme volcanism and frequent collisions with other bodies. Eventually, the outer
layer of the planet cooled to form a solid crust when water began accumulating in the atmosphere. The Moon formed
soon afterwards, possibly as a result of the impact of a planetoid with the Earth. Outgassing and volcanic activity
produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, augmented by ice delivered from comets, produced
the oceans. However, more recently, in August 2020, researchers reported that sufficient water to fill the oceans may
have always been on the Earth since the beginning of the planet's formation.
As the surface continually reshaped itself over hundreds of millions of years, continents formed and broke apart.
They migrated across the surface, occasionally combining to form a supercontinent. Roughly 750 million years ago,
the earliest-known supercontinent Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia,
600 to 540 million years ago, then finally Pangaea, which broke apart 200 million years ago.
The present pattern of ice ages began about 40 million years ago, then intensified at the end of the Pliocene. The
polar regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and thaw, repeating every 40,000–100,000 years.
The last glacial period of the current ice age ended about 10,000 years ago.
Precambrian or Cryptozoic Era (4.6 Ga-540 Ma)
1. Perpresents 80% of Earth’s history
2. Eon or “Hidden Life”- fossil record obscure
Hadean Eon (4.56-3.8 Ga)
1. From “Haedes” Greek god of the underworld
2. Chaotic time, lots of meteorite bombardment
3. Atmosphere reducing (Methane, ammonia)
4. Start of the the hydrologic cycle anf the formation of the world oceans
5. Life emerged in this “hostile”environment
Archean Eon (3.8-2.5 Ga)
1. Anaerobic (lack of Oxygen)
2. No ozone
3. Photosynthetic prokaryotes (blue green algae) emerged and started releasing oxygen to the atmosphere.
4. Life forms still limited to single celled organisms without a nucleus (prokaryotes) until 2.7 Ga when
Eukaryotes emerged.
Proterozoic Eon (2.5Ga- to 540 Ma)
1. Oxygen level reaches- 3% of the atmosphere
2. Rise of multicellular organisms represented by the Vendian Fauna
3. Formation of the protective Ozone Layer.
Phanerozoic Eon (540 Ma to present)
1. Eon of “visible life”
2. Diversification of life. Many life forms represented in the fossil record
3. Life forms with preservable hard parts
Paleozoic Era (540-245)
1. Age of “Ancient Life”
2. Rapid diversification of life as represented by the Cambrian Fauna( Cambrian Explosion)
3. Dominance of marine invertebrates
4. Plants colonize land by 490 ma
5. Animals colonize land by 450 ma
6. Oxygen level in the Atmosphere approaches present day concentration
7. Massive Extinction at the end ( End of Permian Extinction)
Mesozoic Era (245-65 Ma)
1. Age of Reptiles
2. Dominance of reptiles and dinosaurs
3. Pangea starts to break apart by 200 ma
4. Early mammals (220 mya)
5. First Birds (150 ma)
6. First flowering plants (130 ma)
7. Mass Extinction at the end of the Cretaceous (65ma)
Cenozoic Era (65ma to present)
1. Age of mammals
2. Radiation of modern birds
3. Early primates (60 ma)
4. Continents near present-day positions (40ma)
5. First hominids (5.2 ma)
6. Modern humans (0.2 ma)
7. Global ice ages begin (2Ma)
