Geologic time scale

Geologic Timescale

Divisions based on fossils

 Geologic time scale

• Structure of the geologic time scale

• Names of the eons
– Phanerozoic (“visible life”) – the most recent
eon, began about 540 million years ago
– Proterozoic
– Archean
– Hadean – the oldest eon
This, believe it or not, is the rock with the oldest known minerals
ever found. From NW Australia, the rock (a conglomerate) is
about 3.0 Billion years old. The rock contains detrital grains of
zircon (a mineral formed in granite in the crust) that is 4.4 Billion
years old. Age of the Earth is 4.54 Billion (sample and age date
courtesy of Steve Mojzsis)

QuickTime™ and a Sorenson Video decompressor are needed to see this picture.
 Geologic time scale

• Structure of the geologic time scale

• Era – subdivision of an eon
• Eras of the Phanerozoic eon
– Cenozoic (“recent life”)
– Mesozoic (“middle life”)
– Paleozoic (“ancient life”)
• Eras are subdivided into periods
• Periods are subdivided into epochs
 Geologic time scale
• Precambrian time
• Nearly 4 billion years prior to the
Cambrian period
• Not divided into small time units because
the events of Precambrian history are not
know in detail
• Immense space of time (Earth is ~ 4.5 Ga)
 Time
Duration
Span
Eon Era Period Epoch (My)
(Ma)

Holocene - 0.01 0.01

Quaternary
Pleistocene 0.01- 1.6 1.59
Pliocene 1.6 - 5.3 3.7
Cenozoic Miocene 5.3 - 23.7 18.4
Tertiary Oligocene 23.7 - 36.6 12.9
Eocene 36.6 - 57.8 21.2
Paleocene 57.8 - 65 7.2
Cretaceous 65 - 140 75
Phanerozoic
Mesozoic Jurassic 140 - 205 65
Triassic 205 - 250 45
Permian 250 - 290 40
Carboniferous 290 - 355 65
Devonian 355 - 410 55
Paleozoic
Silurian 410 - 438 28
Ordovician 438 - 510 72
Cambrian 510 - 540 30
• Paleozoic Era

Origin of the Term

Paleozoic [1838] Adam Sedgwick used
this term for the older formations.
• Cambrian Period

Origin of the Term

Cambrian System. [1835] Named by Adam Sedgwick for
Transitional rocks in Wales that are found below Murchison's Silu-
rian System. Sedgwick did not recognize any fossils. Sedgwick and
Murchison were friends at this time. Sedgwick based his system on
lithology, not fossils (it wasn't until the 1850's that fossils were
discovered in his type Cambrian section). Since, in the mid-1800's,
fossils were viewed as essential for the naming and recognition of
systems, the Cambrian wasn't accepted by many people. It wasn't
until 1879 with Lapworth's establishment of the Ordovician, that the
Cambrian was reinstated (and was based on fossils).
• Origin of the Term
Ordovician System. [1879] Charles Lapworth established
the Ordovician from studies in Wales and elsewhere
based on distinctive graptolite fossils. By this time
trilobites were known from rocks below classical Silurian
(in Sedgwick's Cambrian); the corals of the Silurian were
different from those found in this new system. Lapworth
made a complete sweep of the Lower Paleozoic; he
redefined Murchison's Silurian (became more restricted
and precise), created a new system, and reinstated
Sedgwick's Cambrian System, but defined it on the basis
of distinctive fossils (in particular, trilobites).
• Silurian Period

Origin of the Term

Silurian System. [1835] Established by Roderick
Murchison for rocks with distinctive fossils that was
originally classified as Transitional (a Wernerian term) in
Wales. Silurian was the generally accepted pre-
Devonian (Old Red Sandstone) system for all the Lower
Paleozoic. Murchison was director of the Geological
Survey of Great Britain from 1855 to 1871, so it isn't
surprising that Cambrian wasn't accepted.
• Devonian Period

Origin of the Term

Devonian System. [1840] Established jointly by
Murchison and Sedgwick (they were still talking
to one another) for the Old Red Sandstone and
their fossiliferous equivalents in Devonshire.
Fossils were recognized to be intermediate
between Carboniferous and Silurian.
• Carboniferous Period

Origin of the Term

Carboniferous System. [1822] W.D.Conybeare
and W.Phillips described this system from the
coal-bearing deposits of England and Wales.
The Old Red Sandstone was in their
Carboniferous System which later was to be
become the basis for the Devonian System
described by Murchison and Sedgwick.
• Permian Period

Origin of the Term

Permian System. [1841] Established by
Murchison for rocks in the Russian Perm Basin
that contained distinctive fossils and
stratigraphically were above Carboniferous. The
strata were similar to the German Zechstein
which occurred stratigraphically below the
Triassic.
• Mesozoic Era

Origin of the Term

Mesozoic [1840]. Established by John
Phillips in 1840 (with further discussion in
1841) as broad, interpretive categories of
rock units based on overall fossil content.
Reflected middle and late animal life.
• Triassic Period

Origin of the Term

Triassic System. [1834] Friedrich August von
Alberti recognized three distinctive formations in
western Germany, in descending order: Keuper,
Muschelkalk, and Bunter which he grouped into
the Trias, and today this is called the Triassic
System. Note: the term Trias is often used in
Europe, even by English-speaking geologists.
• Jurassic Period

Origin of the Term

Jurassic System. [1799; 1839] Alexander von
Humboldt described massive limestone
formations of the Jura Mountains in Switzerland
as Jura-Kalkstein. Later, Leopold von Buch in
1839 formally named these rocks the Jurassic
System.
• Cretaceous Period

Origin of the Term

Cretaceous System. [1822] The Belgian
D'Omalius d'Halloy named the chalk deposits,
the "Terrain Cretace", found in the Paris Basin
and traceable from England eastward into
Sweden and Poland.
• Cenozoic Era

Origin of the Term

Cenozoic (Cainozoic) [1840]. Established by
John Phillips in 1840 (with further discussion in
1841) as broad, interpretive categories of rock
units based on overall fossil content. Reflected
middle and late animal life. Note, Cainozoic
(actually Kainozoic in 1840, re-spelled Cainozoic
in 1841) is the preferred usage in Great Britain.
• Tertiary Period

Origin of the Term

Tertiary System. [1760] Named by Giovanni
Arduino as the uppermost part of his three-fold
subdivision (this was one of the first rudimentary
time frameworks) of mountains in northern Italy.
The Tertiary became a formal period and system
when Lyell published his work describing further
subdivisions (epochs) of the Tertiary.
• Quaternary Period

Origin of the Term

Quaternary System. [1829] In the Seine
Basin, P.G. Desnoyers classified some
marine, lacustrine, alluvial, and volcanic
rock above the Tertiary as Quaternary.