About the geologic time scale

Origins of a geologic time scale

The first people who needed to understand the geological relationships of different rock units were miners.
Mining had been of commercial interest since at least the days of the Romans, but it wasn't until the 1500s and
1600s that these efforts produced an interest in local rock relationships.
By noting the relationships of different rock units, Nicolaus Steno in 1669 described two basic geologic
principles. The first stated that sedimentary rocks are laid down in a horizontal manner, and the second stated
that younger rock units were deposited on top of older rock units. To envision this latter principle think of the
layers of paint on a wall. The oldest layer was put on first and is at the bottom, while the newest layer is at the
top. An additional concept was introduced by James Hutton in 1795, and later emphasized by Charles Lyell in
the early 1800s. This was the idea that natural geologic processes were uniform in frequency and magnitude
However, because rocks were locally described by color, texture, or even smell, comparisons between rock
sequences of different areas were often not possible. Fossils provided the opportunity for workers to correlate
between geographically distinct areas. This contribution was possible because fossils are found over wide
regions of the Earth's crust.
For the next major contribution to the geologic time scale we turn to William Smith, a surveyor, canal builder,
and amateur geologist from England. In 1815 Smith produced a geologic map of England in which he
successfully demonstrated the validity of the principle of faunal succession. This principle simply stated that
fossils are found in rocks in a very definite order. This principle led others that followed to use fossils to define
increments within a relative time scale.

About the geologic time scale divisions

The geologic history of the Earth is broken up into hierarchical chunks of time. From largest to smallest, this
hierarchy includes eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. All of these are displayed in the portion of the geologic
time scale shown below.
Eon

Era

Period

Epoch

Age
Chattian

Phanerozoic

Cenozoic

Paleogene

Oligocene
Rupelian

The Phanerozoic Eon represents the time during which the majority of macroscopic organisms algae, fungi,
plants and animals lived. When first proposed as a division of geologic time, the beginning of the Phanerozoic
(542.0 million years ago)* was thought to coincide with the beginning of life. In reality, this eon coincides with
the appearance of animals that evolved external skeletons, like shells, and the somewhat later animals that
formed internal skeletons, such as the bony elements of vertebrates. The time before the Phanerozoic is usually
referred to as the Precambrian and is usually divided into the three eons shown.
The Phanerozoic is subdivided into three major divisions: the Cenozoic, Mesozoic, and Paleozoic Eras. The "zoic" suffix comes from the root "zoo," which means animal. This is the same root as in the words zoology and
zoological park (or zoo). "Cen-" means recent, "Meso-" means middle, and "Paleo-" means ancient. These
divisions reflect major changes in the composition of ancient faunas, each era being recognized by its
domination by a particular group of animals. The Cenozoic has sometimes been called the "Age of Mammals,"
the Mesozoic the "Age of Dinosaurs," and the Paleozoic the "Age of Fishes." But this is an overly simplified view,
which has some value for the newcomer but can be a bit misleading. For instance, other groups of animals lived
during the Mesozoic. In addition to the dinosaurs, animals such as mammals, turtles, crocodiles, frogs, and
countless varieties of insects also lived on land. Additionally, there were many kinds of plants living in the past
that no longer live today. Ancient floras went through great changes too, and not always at the same times that
the animal groups changed.

EONS: The major geologic division representing global changes..

ERAs: Eras are usually separated from one another by intervals of mountain building called geologic
revolutions and included great forces in and upon Earth which result in land elevation, erosion, the
folding of land and faults (slippage in one section from another). These periods of activity (called
diastrophic activity) are usually accompanied by vulcanism or by igneous intrusion. In short by
magma and sub-crustal activity resulting in crustal changes.
PERIODs: Periods are time frames or systems of rock formations, in which minor or localized earth
movement occur. In short, they are less dramatic than the Eras. Each Period is characterized by
certain fossils which come into being during that Period, which are distinctive and are distributed
widely in many places on Earth or assembled worldwide. This makes possible a comparison or
correlation of these identical or very similar fossils, from place to place, around the Earth. Hence
scientist may determine the age of certain geological formations because of the similarities or virtual
identity of these fossils..
EPOCHs: During epochs, deposition of individual rock formations or groups of formations, including
any fossil remains, takes place on the land surface or on the floor of seas, lakes and other bodies of
water.
AGEs % STAGEs: Ages and stages represent major geologic events such as an Ice Age.

Dawn of the Anthropocene Epoch? Earth Has Entered

New Age of Geological Time, Experts Say
Mar. 26, 2010 Geologists from the University of Leicester are among four scientistsincluding a Nobel prize-winner -- who suggest that Earth has entered a new age of
geological time.
The Age of Aquarius? Not quite -- It's the Anthropocene Epoch, say the scientists writing in the journal
Environmental Science & Technology.
And they add that the dawning of this new epoch may include the sixth largest mass extinction in
Earth's history.
Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams from the University of Leicester Department of Geology; Will
Steffen, Director of the Australian National University's Climate Change Institute and Paul Crutzen the
Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist of Mainz University provide evidence for the scale of global
change in their commentary in the American Chemical Society's' bi-weekly journal Environmental
Science & Technology.
The scientists propose that, in just two centuries, humans have wrought such vast and
unprecedented changes to our world that we actually might be ushering in a new geological time
interval, and alter the planet for millions of years.
Zalasiewicz, Williams, Steffen and Crutzen contend that recent human activity, including stunning
population growth, sprawling megacities and increased use of fossil fuels, have changed the planet to
such an extent that we are entering what they call the Anthropocene (New Man) Epoch.
First proposed by Crutzen more than a decade ago, the term Anthropocene has provoked
controversy. However, as more potential consequences of human activity -- such as global climate
change and sharp increases in plant and animal extinctions -- have emerged, Crutzen's term has
gained support. Currently, the worldwide geological community is formally considering whether the
Anthropocene should join the Jurassic, Cambrian and other more familiar units on the Geological
Time Scale.
The scientists note that getting that formal designation will likely be contentious. But they conclude,
"However these debates will unfold, the Anthropocene represents a new phase in the history of both
humankind and of the Earth, when natural forces and human forces became intertwined, so that the
fate of one determines the fate of the other. Geologically, this is a remarkable episode in the history of
this planet."

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