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The Geologic Time Scale

  • January 1st BIG Bang!!

    January 1st BIG Bang!!
    The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that describes the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the Universe to cool and resulted in its present continuously expanding state. According to the most recent measurements and observations, the Big Bang occurred approximately 13.75 billion years ago,
  • September 5th Birth Of The Earth!

    September 5th Birth Of The Earth!
    Earth formed around 4.54 billion years ago by accretion from the solar nebula. Volcanic outgassing likely created the primordial atmosphere, but it contained almost no oxygen and would have been toxic to humans and most modern life.
  • December 19th Cambrian Period

    December 19th Cambrian Period
    The theory of the Cambrian Explosion holds that, beginning some 545 million years ago, an explosion of diversity led to the appearance over a relatively short period of 5 million to 10 million years of a huge number of complex, multi-celled organisms.
  • December 21st Ordovician Period

    December 21st Ordovician Period
    In geologic time, the second period of the Paleozoic Era. It began 488.3 million years ago. The Ordovician Period ushered in significant changes in plate tectonics, climate, and biological systems. Rapid seafloor spreading at oceanic ridges fostered some of the highest global sea levels in the Phanerozoic Eon.
  • Silurian Period

    Silurian Period
    Plants in the Early Silurian Period thrived under ever-increasing levels of carbon dioxide (plants require CO2 for photosynthesis). As plants spread upon the landscape they produced oxygen as a byproduct of their metabolic processes. Throughout the Silurian the oxygen levels continued to increase, causing problems for plants which suffer when oxygen levels are high.
  • Devonian Period

    Devonian Period
    The Devonian period was a time of many “firsts”: the first amphibians, the first sharks, the first plants with roots, leaves and stomata. Despite such significant innovations, the Devonian is best known for its diversity and abundance of fish. Not only did fish with cartilage first appear,but fish with bony skeletons developed and it is this type of fish which today comprises a majority of our modern fishes.
  • Carboniferous Period

    Carboniferous Period
    The Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic Era began 354 million years ago. It lasted for about 64 million years, until 290 million years ago. The name “Carboniferous” came from the large amounts of carbon-bearing coal that was formed during the period. The rocks that were formed or deposited during the period constitute the Carboniferous System. The name Carboniferous refers to coal-bearing strata that characterize the upper portion of the series throughout the world.
  • Pennsylvanian Period

    Pennsylvanian Period
    In general the continents continued to collide and merge during the Pennsylvanian. Pieces once attached to Gondwana drifted north, approaching Siberia and the other northern continents. These subcontinent-sized blocks, called North China, South China, and Cimmeria were probably large islands during part of the late Paleozoic.
  • Mississippian Period

    Mississippian Period
    The Mississippian Period began about 359 million years ago and ended about 318 million years ago.Throughout most of the world, rocks of Mississippian age are defined as the lower part of the Carboniferous Period. However, in the United States Carboniferous-equivalent rocks are divided into the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Systems.
  • Permian Period

    Permian Period
    During the Permian all the world's land masses joined together into a single supercontinent, Pangea. The collision between Laurasia and Siberia-Kazakhstania and China finalized assembly of Pangaea by end of Permian. This was the first time since the late Proterozoic supercontinent of Rodinia that such a landmass had formed. Pangea was shaped sort of like a giant "Pacman", with the mouth on the east.
  • Triassic Period

    Triassic Period
    the Triassic was the first part of Mesozoic, which means the "age of middle life." This time is also often referred to as the "age of dinosaurs," since dinosaurs were the most notable, successful and diverse creatures to emerge during the Triassic.
  • Jurassic Period

    Jurassic Period
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuIGwt34SIkThe Jurassic period boasted many walks of life- including dinosaurs and diverse vegetation. In Jurassic period began the Age of the Ruling Reptiles. During this period, vegetation was greener and more lush. By Late Jurassic, huge dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Allosaurus walked the lands. Flying reptiles ruled the skies. The earliest known birds also appeared.
  • Certaceous Period

    Certaceous Period
    The end of the Cretaceous brought the end of many previously successful and diverse groups of organisms, such as non-avian dinosaurs and ammonites. This laid open the stage for those groups which had previously taken secondary roles to come to the forefront. The Cretaceous was thus the time in which life as it now exists on Earth came together.
  • Eocene Period 1:00pm

    Eocene Period 1:00pm
    The new ocean circulation resulted in a significantly lower mean annual temperature, with greater variability and seasonality worldwide. The lower temperatures and increased seasonality drove increased body size of mammals, and caused a shift towards increasingly open savanna-like vegetation, with a corresponding reduction in forests.
  • Miocene Period 1:00pm

    Miocene Period 1:00pm
    http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=aGSg8afDZrs&feature=youtube_gdataThis led to a rediversification of temperate ecosystems and many morphological changes in animals. Mammals and birds in particular developed new forms, whether as fast-running herbivores, large predatory mammals and birds, or small quick birds and rodents.
  • Pilocene Period 8:00pm

    Pilocene  Period 8:00pm
    The causes of the generally warmer climates of the Pliocene are something of a mystery. The warmth may have been related to changes in ocean circulation patterns, perhaps combined with higher concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmo
  • Pleistocene Period 11:30pm

    It was during the Pleistocene that the most recent episodes of global cooling, or ice ages, took place. Much of the world's temperate zones were alternately covered by glaciers during cool periods and uncovered during the warmer interglacial periods when the glaciers retreated
  • Holocene Period 11:50pm

    Holocene Period 11:50pm
    As the world started to warm, the glaciers melted, leaving moraines of various types in the area. Terminal moraines are large deposits marking where the leading edge of the glacier stopped moving forward; lateral moraines are deposits left along the edge of the moving glacier; and ground moraines mark places where the movement of the glacier halted for some time, allowing material to drop out of the ice.
  • Palecone Period 7:00am

    Palecone Period 7:00am
    The early part of the period experienced cooler temperatures and a more arid climate than existed before the asteroid. But in the latter part of the epoch, the temperatures warmed significantly, resulting in the absence of glaciated poles and the presence of verdant, tropical forests. The warmer climate increased ocean temperatures leading to a proliferation of species such as coral and other invertebrates.
  • Oligocene Period 12:00pm

    Oligocene Period 12:00pm
    Oligocene period, covering ten million years, the plant life, together with the marine life and the land animals, had very largely evolved and was present on earth much as today. Considerable specialization has subsequently appeared, but the ancestral forms of most living things were then alive.