Archean
Paleoproterozoic
Mesoproterozoic
Neoproterozoic
Phanerozoic

Earth History, from the end ...
Eon
Era
Period
Geological
Events
Biological
Events
   
Quaternary
Great Lakes
Series of Ice Ages
Cro-Magnons
Mammoths
Australopithecus
 
Cenozoic
Tertiary
Colarado Plateau
Radiation of Mammals
  65 million years ago
Asteroid Impact!!
K-T Extinction
 
100 million
Cretaceous
 
Tyrannosaurus - Sue
Triceratops
Dinosaur Nesting
Velociraptor
Flowering Plants
Phanerozoic
Mesozoic


200 million
Jurassic

Morrison formation
Break-Up of Pangaea
Early Birds

Megalosaurus
Pterosaurs
 
 
Triassic
 
 
  245 million years ago
 
P-T Extinction
 
 
Permian

Pangaea
 
 

300 million
Carboniferous

Cyclothems
Pelycosaurs
 
Paleozoic


400 million
Devonian


Appalachian Mtns
First Amphibians

Paleozoic Fish
 
 
Silurian
 
 
Phanerozoic
 
Ordovician

 
 
 
500 million
Cambrian
 
Trilobites
Burgess Shale Fauna
Cambrian Explosion
Tommotian Fauna
  544 million years ago
 
Evolution of Hard-Parts
 
600 million
 
 
Ediacara fauna
 
700 million
 

Snowball Earth episodes
 
Proterozoic
Neo-
proterozoic


800 million
 
 
 
 
900 million
 
 
 
 
1,000 million
 
Rodinia
 
Proterozoic
1,100 million
 
Grenville Orogeny
 
 
1,200 million
 
 
 
 
1,300 million
 
 
 
Proterozoic
Meso-
proterozoic


1,400 million
 
 
 
 
1,500 million
 
 
 
 
1,600 million
 
 
 
Proterozoic
1,700 million
 
 
First Eukaryotes
 
1,800 million
 
 
 
 
1,900 million
 
 
 
Proterozoic
2,000 million
 
Atmospheric O2
 
 
Paleo-
proterozoic


2,100 million
 
 
 
 
2,200 million
 
Early Proterozoic Glaciation
 
Proterozoic
2,300 million
 
 
 
 
2,400 million
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stromatolites Common
  2,500 million years ago
Sizable Continents
 
Archean
2,600 million
 
 
 
 
2,700 million
 
 
 
 
2,800 million
 
 
 
Archean
2,900 million
 
 
 
 
3,000 million
 
 
 
 
3,100 million
 
 
 
Archean
3,200 million
 
 
 
 
3,300 million
 
 
 
 
3,400 million
 
 
 
Archean
3,500 million
 
 
Earliest Fossils
 
3,600 million
 
 
 
 
3,700 million
 
 
 
Archean
3,800 million
 
 
 
 
3,900 million
 


Oldest Rocks
 
 
4,000 million
 
 
 
Archean
4,100 million
 
 
 
 
4,200 million
 
 
 
 
4,300 million
 
 
 
Archean
4,400 million
 
 
 
 
4,500 million




 
 
 
  4,560 million years ago
Formation of the Earth
 
... to the beginning!

Archean
Paleoproterozoic
Mesoproterozoic
Neoproterozoic
Phanerozoic


PHYS 0106 Spring, 2001 - Timeline/ Westfield State College / myoung@wisdom.wsc.mass.edu / revised January 25, 2001


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