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The Geological Time Scale

The document summarizes key aspects of the geologic time scale including its major divisions of eons, eras, periods, and epochs. It describes the four major eras as Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. The Paleozoic era saw the rise of invertebrates like trilobites and the first land plants. Reptiles dominated during the Mesozoic, including dinosaurs. Mammals became more common in the Cenozoic along with flowering plants. Mass extinctions marked transitions between eras, such as the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs.

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794 views42 pages

The Geological Time Scale

The document summarizes key aspects of the geologic time scale including its major divisions of eons, eras, periods, and epochs. It describes the four major eras as Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. The Paleozoic era saw the rise of invertebrates like trilobites and the first land plants. Reptiles dominated during the Mesozoic, including dinosaurs. Mammals became more common in the Cenozoic along with flowering plants. Mass extinctions marked transitions between eras, such as the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs.

Uploaded by

Deliadina Quinto
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Geologic Time

Scale
What is the Earth’s time scale?

• The Geological time scale is a record of


the life forms and geological events in
Earth’s history.
• Scientists developed the time scale by
studying rock layers and fossils world
wide.
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 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, and
• "Paleo" means ANCIENT.
• 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
• Cambrian being the first period is important.
• With a more complete fossil record
available, the periods of the Cenozoic era
are subdivided further into epochs.
• Present day Earth is in the Cenozoic era
and the Quaternary period in the Holocene
epoch.
• Geologic time has not ended.
Term Prefix Meaning
Phanerozoic Phanero Visible or
Apparent
Paleozoic Paleo Ancient or old
Mesozoic Meso Middle
Cenozoic Ceno Recent

The suffix Zoic means life forms or zoo.


Major information found on the geologic
time scale includes:

• Precambrian is the name given to the


earliest span of time in Earth history.
• Geologists divide the time between
Precambrian and the present into three
long units called eras (Paleozoic,
Mesozoic, Cenozoic).
• The names of the eras are important, as is
the order from oldest era to most recent.
FOUR Eras…
• PRE-CAMBRIAN – 88% of earth’s history

• Paleozoic (ancient life)


– 544 million years ago…lasted 300 million yrs

• Mesozoic (middle life)


– 245 million years ago…lasted 180 million yrs

• Cenozoic (recent life)


– 65 million years ago…continues through present day
Divisions of Geologic Time
• Geological time begins with Precambrian
Time. Precambrian time covers
approximately 88% of Earth’s history.
What Happened During the
Precambrian Era?
• Earth formed
• Life arose
• First tectonic plates arose and began to
move
• Eukaryotic cells evolved
• Atmosphere became enriched in oxygen
• And, just before the end of the Precambrian,
complex multicellular organisms, including
the first animals, evolved.
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 (Ancient Life)
• The Cambrian period is the 1st period of the Paleozoic
Era. “Age of the Trilobites”
• Explosion of life in the oceans began during this era.
• Most of the continents were covered in warm, shallow
seas.
– Invertebrates were dominate - Trilobites
– Fish emerged during this time
– Fish led to the arrival of amphibians
• The end of the Paleozoic era is called the “Age of Amphibians”
– Early land plants including mosses, ferns and cone-bearing
plants.
– The early coal forming forests were also formed during this
time.
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”
Early Land Plants

Mosses

Cone bearing plants

Ferns
Mesozoic Era – Middle Life
• At the beginning of this era the continents
were joined as Pangaea.
• Pangaea broke up around the middle of
this era.
• Reptiles became the most abundant
animals because of their ability to adapt to
the drier climate of the Mesozoic Era.
– Skin maintains body fluids
– Embryos live in shells
• At the beginning of this era Pangaea formed
and during the Triassic Period, Pangaea
began to break up ( Pangaea split into 2)
 
• Ended when most of the land and ocean
species became extinct when an asteroid
collided with Earth
• Known as the Age of Dinosaurs or the Age
of Reptiles 
• Dinosaurs lived during this era.
Throughout this era, some
dinosaurs became extinct as
others adapted.
• Reptiles became the most
abundant animals in this era
• Gymnosperms dominated the land.  
• Gymnosperms are plants that produce
seeds in cones like pine cones

• Angiosperms are flowering plants which


first appeared during at the end of this era
Mesozoic Era – Mass Extinction
Event
• Asteroid or Comet collides with Earth.

– Huge cloud of smoke and dust fills the air


– Blocks out sunlight
– Plants die
– Animals that eat plants die
– Animals that eat plant-eaters die.

• However, not all forms of life died during this


event. Many animals that you see today are
descendants from the survivors of this extinction
event.
Dinosaurs
Mesozoic Reptiles
Mesozoic Mammals
Mesozoic Plants

Flowering plants evolved


towards the end of the
Mesozoic Era.
Cenozoic Era
• Growth of these mountains may have helped to
cool down the climate
– Ice Ages occurred late in the Cenozoic Era
(Quaternary Period).

• As the climate changed, the animals had to


adapt to the rise and fall of the oceans caused
by melting glaciers.

• This era is sometimes called the “Age of


Mammals”
Cenozoic Era
• Marine animal examples:
– Algae, Mollusks, Fish and Mammals

• Land animal examples:


– Bats, Cats, Dogs, Cattle and Humans
– Humans are thought to have appeared around 3.5
million years ago (during the most recent period –
Quaternary).

• Flowering plants were now the most common


plant life.
Cenozoic Mammals
Flowering Plants were common
during the Cenozoic Era

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