User talk:Rwflammang/Geologic time scale

Geologic time scale

Eon / Era / Period / Epoch / Age

Preceded by the Proterozoic Eon	Phanerozoic Eon
	Paleozoic Era						Mesozoic Era			Cenozoic Era
	Cambrian	Ordovician	Silurian	Devonian	Carboniferous	Permian	Triassic	Jurassic	Cretaceous	Paleogene	Neogene	4ry

Precambrian

See Timeline of the Precambrian

Theia strikes Proto-earth.
Priscoan Eon. To 3.8 Ga. Also called Hadean. Earth and moon form.
Archean Eon. 3.8 to 2.5 Ga. Earth solidifies.
- Eoarchean Era. 4.0 - 3.6 Ga. Oldest rocks.
- Paleoarchean Era. 3.6 - 3.2 Ga. cyanobacteria
- Mesoarchean Era. 3.2 - 2.8 Ga. Stromatolites. Vaalbara broke up. Ur (continent) assembles.
- Neoarchean Era. 2.8 - 2.5 Ga. Great Oxygenation Event
Proterozoic Eon. 2.5 Ga to 542 Ma.
- Paleoproterozoic Era. 2.5 - 1.6 Ga. First aerobic life. Oxygen. Oldest surviving mountains. Arctica assembles.
- Mesoproterozoic Era. 1.6 - 1.0 Ga. Sexual reproduction. Rodinia breaks up. Columbia (supercontinent) forms.
- Neoproterozoic Era. 1000 - 542 Ma. Ice sheets reach the equator during the Cryogenian. Pannotia forms.

Phanerozoic

Comparison

Phanerozoic Eon. 545 Ma to present.
- Paleozoic Era. 542 - 251 Ma.
  - Cambrian Period. 542 - 488 Ma. Explosion of complex aquatic life.
  - Ordovician Period. 488 - 444 Ma. Very high sea levels. Land plants.
  - Silurian Period. 444 - 416 Ma. Ordovician–Silurian extinction event. Greenhouse effect. Plants diversify.
  - Devonian Period. 416 - 359 Ma. Fish emerge on land. Plants have leaves, roots, and seeds.
  - Carboniferous Period. 359 - 299 Ma. Glaciation. Coal.
  - Permian Period. 299 - 251 Ma. Amniotes diversify into mammals, turtles, lepidosaurs (lizards and snakes), archosaurs (crocs, dinos, pterosaurs).
- Mesozoic Era. 251 - 65 Ma. Also called the Secondary superperiod. Permian–Triassic extinction event.
  - Triassic Period. 251 - 200 Ma. Africa joins Pangaea. Pterosaurs.
  - Jurassic Period. 200 - 146 Ma. Pangaea breaks into Laurasia and Gondwana. Allosaurus and Stegosaurus.
  - Cretaceous Period. 146 - 65 Ma. Marine reptiles, dinosaurs, and flowers. High sea levels.
- Caenozoic Era. 65 Ma to present. See below.
  - Tertiary Period. 65.5 - 2.6 Ma. See below
  - Quaternary Period. 2.6 Ma to present. See below.

Last Era of the Phanerozoic Eon

Sea-level changes and relative temperatures

... Phanerozoic Eon, 545 Ma to present.
- Cenozoic Era. 65.5 - 0.0 Ma
  - Tertiary period. 65.5 - 2.6 Ma: Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene
  - Quaternary Period. 2.59 - 0.00 Ma: Pleistocene, Holocene

- - Paleogene Period, or Lower Tertiary. 65.5 - 23.0 Ma: Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene
  - Neogene Period, or Upper Tertiary. 23.0 - Present. Sometimes the term Neogene excludes the Quaternary: Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Holocene

- - - Paleocene Epoch. 65.5 - 55.9 Ma. Temperate climes at the poles.
    - Eocene Epoch. 55.8 - 33.9 Ma. First modern mammals. Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum
    - Oligocene Epoch 33.9 - 23.0 Ma. Eocene-Oligocene extinction event.
    - Miocene Epoch. 23.0 - 5.3 Ma. Ice Ages.
    - Pliocene Epoch. 5.3 - 2.6 Ma. Climate cooled to modern levels.
    - Pleistocene Epoch. 2588 - 12 ka. Extinction of megafauna, austrolopitheci, and most homines. Quaternary glaciation.
      - Paleolithic Age
    - Holocene Epoch. 12 - 0 ka. Interglacial in the current ice age. Homo sapiens dominate.
      - Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic Ages. Pre-agriculture.
      - Neolithic Age. Agriculture.
      - Bronze Age
      - Iron Age

Summary

Periods of the Paleozoic Era

Periods of the Mesozoic Era

Epochs of the Cenozoic Era