THE LIFE OF THE PLANET
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Time(kMy) Ago |
Events |
Climate |
‘Epoch’ |
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4.55 |
Birth of
Solar System and our planet |
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Hadean |
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? |
Planet
cool enough for liquid water, and ‘permanent’ crust |
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Aeon |
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(0
– 4 kMy) |
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4 4.0 |
Dawn of Life?? |
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3.8? |
Oldest
rocks (Geology of young Earth) |
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Banded
Iron Formations |
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3.5 |
first
Fossils (bacteria) more
first stromatolites |
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Archaean |
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Aeon |
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(4
– |
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3 |
Planet
still too turbulent for much but bacteria to survive |
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2.5 kMy) |
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2.6: |
Things
begin to settle down a bit |
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2.5: |
Supercontinent , Photosynthesis invented
more |
no data |
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Oxygenation of planet begins
Stromatolites abundant |
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Red
Beds |
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2.1 |
First
eukaryotes(?) |
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2 |
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Proterozoic |
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1.7–1.6 |
Supercontinent |
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Aeon |
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(2.5
kMy– |
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545 My) |
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1.1 |
Rodinia
formed , possible algae on land |
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1 |
complex
creatures appear (tiny) |
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Life
experiments with many different forms (all tiny) |
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(late |
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0.75 |
start
of terrible Ice Age |
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Proterozoic) |
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ice |
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0.57 |
end
of Ice Age first large creatures
more 0.55
Panotia
formed |
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0.5 |
Cambrian Explosion – used
to be thought the dawn of life |
hot |
Age of |
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0.3 |
Pangaea Big juicy fossils flying reptiles |
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large |
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0.2 |
First
dinosaurs & mammals |
hot
dry |
animals |
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0 |
End
of dinosaurs (except birds), Humans, Latest ice age, etc. |
ice |
and plants |