The Geological

Time Scale
 What is the Earth’s time scale?
• The geologic time scale is a record
of the major events and diversity of
life forms present in Earth’s history.
• The geologic time scale began when
Earth was formed and goes on until
the present.
 What is the Earth’s time scale?
• It divides Earth’s long history into
units of time.
• Scientists developed the time
scale by studying rock layers
and fossils world wide.
 What about the Geologic Time Scale?

•Precambrian is the name

given to the earliest
span of time in Earth
history.
 Reading and 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, AND EPOCHS. All of these
are displayed in the portion of the
geologic time scale shown below.
The geologic time scale divides Earth’s long history
into units of time:
There are 4 major subdivisions of Geologic Time
• Eons which subdivides into eras
• Eras which subdivides into periods
• Periods which subdivides into epochs
Eons
Eras
BIG E = E + P = EP Periods
Epochs
• These subdivisions are based
on large scale events in Earth’s
history that are identified in the
fossil record and rock layers.
• The Phanerozoic Eon is subdivided into
three major divisions: the PALEOZOIC,
MESOZOIC, AND CENOZOIC Eras. The "-
zoic" suffix comes from the root "zoo,"
which means animal.

• Cen-" means _________,

RECENT
• "Meso-" means ________,
MIDDLE
• "Paleo-" means ________.
ANCIENT
What is the present` day or modern
day Eon, Era, Period, and EPOCH we
live in?
•EON: PHANEROZOIC
•ERA: CENOZOIC
•PERIOD: QUATERNARY
•EPOCH: HOLOCENE
 Major information found on the
geologic time scale includes:

• During the first billion years of Earth’s

history, the land was covered with
volcanoes. Over the next 3 billion
years, simple life-forms began to live in
oceans.
 The
Precambrian
Time!
The Precambrian Record
EARTH DURING PRECAMBRIAN TIME
 TIMEFRAME

•4.6 billion to 544

million years ago
 IMPORTANT FACTS
- Earliest part of Earth’s history
- covered approximately 88% of Earth’s history
which makes it the longest part of Earth’s history.
• Earth formed
• Life arose
• First tectonic plates arose and began to move
• Atmosphere became enriched in oxygen
• Is known as a Supereon because it is divided into 3
eons (Proterozoic, Archaean, and Hadean)
Precambrian Time
 Animals (Biological) Features

•Most organisms had soft bodies

which looked like modern
jellyfish and worms

Many Precambrian fossils are

Trace fossils.
 630 MYA Precambrian Time

• Multicellular organisms evolve with soft bodies

Species include:
jelly fish; coral
stalks;
segmented
worms; algae
 Animals (Biological) Features
Land (Geological) Features

•Primarily covered by
the ocean
•Had a lot of volcanic
activity
 MASS EXTINCTION
• MASS EXTINCTION IS THE EVENT THAT ENDED
PRECAMBRIAN TIME.

• glaciation event
• Precambrian time were marked by a prolonged
global ice age. This may have led to widespread
extinctions.
 PALEOZOIC ERA

•KNOWN AS THE
AGE OF
TRILOBITES
 Paleozoic Era Timeframe
• 544 million to 248 million years ago
 Paleozoic Era
Life starts in the seas and moves onto land

Six periods:
Cambrian
Ordovician
Silurian
Devonian
Carboniferous-2 periods included
Permian
 Important Facts

• Pangea was forming during this era as far as coming together

• Cambrian being the first period is important.

• The Cambrian Explosion was a time where there was a

relatively rapid appearance of most major animal phyla as
evidenced by the fossil record.
 IMPORTANT FACTS
• This division is known as ANCIENT LIFE

• During most of the Era, warm shallow SEAS

covered much of the planet.

• A major geologic event of the Paleozoic was

the formation of the super continent of
Pangaea.
HOW EARTH LOOKED DURING THE
PALEOZOIC ERA
 Cambrian “explosion”
For reasons unclear, 13 million years
after the start of the Cambrian (so 530
my), there was a tremendous
diversification of marine life forms,
some of which have never been
reproduced.
Cambrian Explosion – Most
major animal phyla are found in
the fossil record (mostly aquatic
invertebrates with
exoskeletons).
LAND (GEOLOGICAL) FEATURES That
First APPEARED:
• Early Plants such as ferns, mosses, and
cone-bearing plants like pine-cone trees
• By the end of the era, seed plants
(gymnosperms) were common and began
to form creating a forests
• By the Devonian Period, grass began to
grow on land and mountains formed during
this era (Appalachian Mtn.)
Paleozoic Era
• ANIMALS/ORGANISMS (BIOLOGICAL) &
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES THAT FIRST
APPEARED
•
 Paleozoic Era
Cambrian Period (570-500 MYA)

• Cambrian Explosion – Most major animal phyla are found in the fossil record
(mostly aquatic invertebrates with exoskeletons).
• TRILOBITES APPEARED
•Advanced forms of marine life
and first invertebrates appear
•Trilobites and brachiopods
common.
 Brachiopods

• Marine animals that resemble clams.

 Ordovician Period (500-435 MYA)

1st vertebrates - jawless fish (filter feeders)

• Brachiopods increase; trilobites decline;

gaptolites flourish; first vertebrates
(fishes) appear.
The lamprey of today is a parasite. The hagfish is a scavenger.
 Paleozoic Era
Silurian Period (435-395 MYA)

 1st INSECTS & ARACHNIDS) (invertebrates like spiders & scorpions).

 1st jawed fish (later evolved into sharks-made of cartilage).
Echinoderms appear; eurypterids abundant; first land
plants and animals appear.
Age of fishes; first
amphibians appear; giant
horsetails, ferns and cone-
bearing plants develop.
 Devonian Period (395-345 MYA)

• “Age of the Fish” (giant armored fish).

• 1st fish/ 1ST SHARKS (scales and swim bladder for buoyancy).
Early Fish

Early fish did not have jaws.

Some species of sharks were in
existence at this time.
Frilled Shark that was found in Japan in January 2007. This shark was considered a “living fossil”
 Early Land Plants

Mosses

Cone bearing plants

Ferns
 Devonian Period (395-345 MYA)

• 1st vertebrates on land – amphibians

– Evolved from the lobed-fin fish which include some species of
lungfish.
View of Earth—Devonian Period
 Carboniferous Period (345-280 MYA)

• 1st reptiles
View of Earth—Carboniferous Pd
ANIMALS/ORGANISMS
(BIOLOGICAL) & GEOLOGICAL
FEATURES THAT BECAME
DOMINANT
 Permian Period (280-225 MYA)

 Pangaea begins to form (Appalachian Mnts; dry climate;

ice age in the southern hemisphere)
 FISH & TRILOBITES WERE DOMINATE AS WELL

Early Permian reptiles, Cacops in front & Casea in The middle Permian reptile, Anteosaurus.
back.
View of Earth—Permian Period
 Mass Extinction

• The mass extinction that ended the era

caused most marine invertebrates as well as
amphibians to disappear.
• At the end of this era, more than 90% of all ocean
species and 70% of all land species died

One of the Big FIVE Mass Extinctions

WHAT CATASTROPHIC EVENT CAUSED
THE MASS EXTINCTION??? 3 THINGS

• 1. volcanic activity
• 2. Climate Changes
• 3. lowering of sea levels as
Pangaea was forming (convergent
boundaries)
 Animals (Biological) Features
• Began with the early invertebrates, such as trilobites and brachiopods
WHAT FIRST APPEARED:
1. Trilobites
2. fish
3. arachnids and insects
4. first amphibians
5. near the era’s end the reptiles became dominant.

WHAT BECAME DOMINANT:

1. Trilobites
2. Fish
 Trilobites

• Lived in Earth’s ancient seas

• Extinct before the dinosaurs came into
existence
• Cambrian Period is know as the “Age of
the Trilobites” (put in on table)
 Brachiopods

• Marine animals that resemble clams.

Early Fish

Early fish did not have jaws.

Some species of sharks were in
existence at this time.
Frilled Shark that was found in Japan in January 2007. This shark was considered a “living fossil”
 Land (Geological) Features
• During most of the Era, warm shallow seas covered much of the
planet.

WHAT FIRST APPEARED:

1. Simple mosses
2. Ferns
3. Cone-bearing plants
4. Seed plants
 Early Land Plants

Mosses

Cone bearing plants

Ferns
HOW EARTH LOOKED DURING THE
PALEOZOIC ERA
 Mass Extinction
• The mass extinction that ended the era caused
most marine invertebrates as well as amphibians
to disappear.
• About 95 percent of marine species and 70 percent of
land animals were wiped out after the Permian mass
extinction.
• It is suspected that periods of rapid global warming
and cooling that happened so quickly most organisms
were not able to adjust.
WHAT CATASTROPHIC EVENT CAUSED
THE MASS EXTINCTION??? 3 THINGS
• 1. volcanic activity
• 2. Climate Changes
• 3. lowering of sea levels as Pangaea was
forming (convergent boundaries)
 Mesozoic Era
(Age of the Dinosaurs or
Reptiles)

Three Periods
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
 TIMEFRAME

• Occurred between 248 to 65 million years ago

 IMPORTANT FACTS
• Time marked by rapid movements of plates
• A major geologic event of the Mesozoic was the break-
up of the super continent of Pangaea into several large
continents.
• At the beginning of this era Pangaea formed and during
the Triassic Period
 Mesozoic Era
Triassic Period (225-180 MYA)

Pangaea (supercontinent) existed

 Mesozoic Era
Jurassic Period (180-135 MYA)

Pangaea starts to separate

 Mesozoic Era
Cretaceous Period (135-65 MYA)

Continents in modern positions

 ANIMALS/ORGANISMS (BIOLOGICAL)

WHAT FIRST APPEARED?

1. DINOSAURS
2. SMALL MAMMALS
3. BIRDS

WHAT ANIMAILS BECAME DOMINANT?

1. DINOSAURS
2. REPTILES
 Mesozoic Era
Triassic Period (225-180 MYA)

First Dinosaurs (small in size)

Pisanosaurus
Length:3 feet
Height:1 foot
Weight:15 pounds

Eoraptor:
Length:3 feet
Height: 1 foot
Weight:20 pounds
. Dinosaurs first appear;
ammonites common;
cycads and conifers
abundant; first
mammals appear.
 Mesozoic Era
Jurassic Period (180-135 MYA)

1st mammals (small rodents).

 Mesozoic Era
Jurassic Period (180-135 MYA)

1st birds (Archaeopteryx).

• Jaws and bone structure like dinosaurs

• Bones are hollow, like birds
• Had feathers
. Dinosaurs first appear;
ammonites common;
cycads and conifers
abundant; first mammals
appear.
 LAND (GEOLOGICAL) FEATURES

• WHAT LAND FEATURES FIRST APPEARED?

1. Flowering plants

• WHAT LAND FEATURES BECAME DOMINANT?

• 1. SEED PANTS
 Mesozoic Era
Cretaceous Period (135-65 MYA)

Flower plants CALLED

(angiosperms) 1ST
APPEARED
First flowering plants
appear; mass
extinctions (including all
dinosaurs) mark end of
Mesozoic period.
• WHAT CATASTROPHIC EVENT CAUSED THE
MASS EXTINCTION?

• Scientists hypothesize that possibly a large

_asteroids__ or _comets__ impacted with
Earth.

• The mass extinction that ended the era caused the

dinosaurs to become extinct.
 MASS EXTINCTION
• Asteroids, METEORITE, or Comets collided into the
Earth AND CAUSED Mass Extinction
 How could a meteorite impact
cause a mass extinction?
• The impact caused shock waves, tidal waves,
and sent a tremendous amount of dust into the
atmosphere
 As the dust re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it
would have instantly heated the atmosphere
causing tremendous forest fires
 Dust from impact blocked out the sun and caused
major climate change and plants to die
 Plants, animals, etc. went extinct due to the
climate changes and competition between
organisms
 Cenozoic Era
(Age of the Mammals)

Two Periods
Tertiary
Quaternary
 TIMEFRAME
• TIMEFRAME: 65 million years ago to Present
Day
 IMPORTANT FACTS:
• Present day Earth is in this era.
• The diversity of life forms increased because of the
variety of different animal and plant species that formed.
• New mammals appeared while others became extinct.
• A major geologic event of the Cenozoic is the further
splitting and moving of continents to their current
positions.
 ANIMALS/ORGANISMS (BIOLOGICAL)

• WHAT MAMMALS/ANIMALS FIRST APPEARED?

1. Humans

WHAT MAMMALS/ANIMALS BECAME DOMINANT?

1. MAMMALS
• HUMANS 1ST APPEARED (HOMO SAPIENS)
Cenozoic Mammals
MAMMALS
 GEOLOGICAL (Land) FEATURES
• WHAT LAND FEATURES BECAME DOMINANT?

1. FLOWERING PLANTS
Flowering Plants were common during the
Cenozoic Era
 WHAT CAUSED THE MASS
EXTINCTION?
• There have been SOME extinctions
CAUSED BY Climatic Changes & Glacier
Events (Ice Ages) during the Cenozoic as
there were during the Mesozoic and
Paleozoic, but not as many animals and
plants have disappeared.
• The “Great Ice Age”, ice sheets covered
30% of all land
 The
Great
Ice Age
 5 Question Quiz
1. Which era is the age of dinosaurs?
2. Which era is the age of trilobites?
3. Which era is the age of mammals?
4. What is the connection between periods, eons, eras,
and epochs?
5. Give 2 facts about the Precambrian Time.