Card Format
years ago
card number
Event
Units to the next event
_______________________________
100 meters
10 meters
1 meter
0.1 meter (dm)
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1 billion years
100 million years
10 million years
1 million years
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4.6 bya
#1
Precambrian Time begins
The estimated time of the formation of the earth, the earth was entirely
molten.
400 my
4 dkm (10 meter lengths)
_____________________________
4.2 bya
#2
Oldest dated mineral grain found.
800 my
8 dkm (10 meter lengths)
___________________________
3.4 bya
#3
Oldest evidence of life on Earth. Single cells, prokaryotes.
700 my
7 dkm (10 meter lengths)
_______________________________
2.7 bya
#4
First stromatolites- layered hemispheres of algae and sediments, still
found today in Australia
700 my
7 dkm (10 meter lengths)
_____________________________________________
1.2 bya
#5
Oldest dated rock in South Carolina. It was found in Pickens County.
300 my
3 dkm (10 meter lengths)
_______________________________
0.9 bya
#6
900 mya
First more complex forms of life, the eukaryotes. Organized nucleus.
Still single cell though.
250 my
2.5 dkm (10 meter lengths)
________________________________
650 mya
#7
The first metazoans- multicellular life evidence of jellyfish, soft corals,
worms, arthropods. Found as fossils in Australia. Fossils are RARE. All
soft-bodied.
80 my
8 meters
_______________________________
7a
End of Precambrian Time
Life becomes more abundant.
__________________________
570 mya
#8
Beginning of Paleozoic Era “Ancient Life”.
Cambrian Period All before was the PreCambrian (86% of all time).First
hard parts, more abundant fossils.Trilobites and brachiopods. Evidence
from stromatolites suggests 435 days/yr..
65 my
6.5 m
___________________________________________
505 mya
#9
Ordovician Period
First land plants, First fishes. Animals with bones. Appalachians begin to
form.
67 my
6.7 m.
_______________________________
438 mya
#10
Silurian Period
Corals and other invertebrates are abundant. Piedmont collides with
North America.
30 my
3m
408 mya
#11
Devonian Period
Fish become abundant. First amphibians appear.
48 my
4.8 m
_______________________________
360 mya
#12
Mississippian Period
large coal swamps, sharks, crinoids, Glaciation in polar areas.
40 my
4 m.
___________________________________
320 mya
#13
Pennsylvanian Period
more coal, first reptiles and insects
34 my
3.4 m.
_______________________________
286 mya
#14
Permian Period
Glaciation in the southern hemisphere. Conifers develop.
41 my
4.1 m.
14a
End of the Paleozoic Era
Climate change and lowering of sea level causes a large mass
extinction. Other possible causes were volcanic activity and meteor
impact.
___________________________________________________________
245 mya
#15
Mesozoic Era “Middle Life” begins.
Triassic Period. First dinosaurs, first mammals, North America and
Africa begin rifting apart at the end of the period.
37 my
3.7 m.
_______________________________
208 mya
#16
Jurassic Period
Dinosaurs! and first birds. Mountain building in western North America.
64 my
6.4 m.
________________________________________________
144 mya
#17
Cretaceous Period
Angiosperms (flowering plants) appear.
78 my
7.8 m.
_______________________________
17a
End of the Mesozoic Era
Probable large asteroid or comet impact at the Yucatan in Mexico
caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and many other forms of life.
66 mya
#18
Cenozoic Era “Modern Life” begins.
Tertiary Period. Mammals dominate.
Mountain building- Alps in Europe, Himalaya- Asia, Andes- S. America
2 my
0.2 m.
_____________________________________________
2 mya
#19
Quaternary Period begins.
Widespread glaciation. Several advances and retreats of ice sheets up to
about 15,000 years ago. We are still in the Quaternary Period.
All of civilization has occurred in the last 6,000 years. Less than 1 mm on
our scale of 1 meter for 10 million years.
0.2 meters to the present
_______________________________
100 meters
10 meters
1 meter
0.1 meter (dm)
1 centimeter
1 millimeter
0.1 mm
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1 billion years
100 million years
10 million years
1 million years
100 thousand years
10 thousand years
1 thousand years
(put your thumb and index finger together, then move apart to just see light, thickness of a
sheet of paper)
Bill Gates wealth: the whole distance x 15 of $1,000 bills.