Geologic Calendar

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The Geologic Calendar is a scale in which the lifetime of the earth is mapped onto a calendrical year; that is to say, the day one of the earth took place on a geologic January 1 at precisely midnight, and today's date and time is December 31 at midnight.[1] On this calendar, the life on Earth arose on November 15, the first dinosaurs appeared on December 27th, the first flowers on December 30th and the first primates on December 31. The first humans did not arrive until around 11:56 p.m. on New Year's Eve, and all of human history has been recorded in the last 4 seconds.

Contents

[edit] The Geological Year

Time period Major evolutionary event General conversion multiplier Distance run in a 10-kilometer race Distance on a football field (100 yards) Distance on a soccer field (100 meters) Age in an ave. human lifespan (76 yrs) Day in a calendar year No. of the 407 M&M’s in 1 lb bag Time passed in a 3-hour exam Time remaining in a 3-hour exam
4500 mya Earth is formed; no free oxygen 0,00 0 m 0 yds 0 m 0 yrs Jan. 1st 0 eaten 0 min 180 min
3800 mya Prokaryotes evolve; hydrosphere present 1,08 1556 m 15 yds 20 in 15.56 m 12 yrs old Feb. 25th 63 eaten 28min 152 min
2500 mya Eukaryotes evolve; oxygen present in atmosphere 3,09 4444 m 44 yds 16 in 44.44 m 34 yrs old June 13th 181 eaten 80 min 100 min
543mya Cambrian Period; explosion of animal phyla 6,11 8793 m 87 yds 33 in 87.93 m 67 yrs old Nov. 15th 357 eaten 158.3 min 21.7 min
500mya Ordovician Period; evidence of complex plants on land 6,17 8889 m 88 yds 32 in 88.89 m 67.5 yrs old Nov. 19th 361 eaten 160 min 20 min
440mya Silurian Period; vascular plants and arthropods on land 6,27 9022 m 90 yds 8 in 90.22 m 68.5 yrs old Nov. 24th 367 eaten 162.4 min 17.6 min
409mya Devonian Period; mountain building in North America; fresh water increasing 6,31 9091 m 90 yds 33 in 90.91 m 69 yrs old Nov. 27th 370 eaten 163.6 min 16.4 min
354mya Carboniferous Period; major radiation of insects 6,40 9213 m 92 yds 5 in 92.13 m 70 yrs old Dec. 1st 374 eaten 165.8 min 14.2 min
290mya Permian Period; mammal-like reptiles predominate; huge land and sea extinction event at period’s end 6,50 9356 m 93 yds 20 in 93.56 m 71 yrs old Dec. 6th 380 eaten 168.4 min 11.6 min
245mya Triassic Period; ancestors of dinosaurs present and diversifying 6,57 9456 m 94 yds 20 in 94.56 m 72 yrs old Dec. 9th 384 eaten 170.2 min 9.8 min
206mya Jurassic Period; Pangaea begins breaking up; dinosaurs continue to diversify 6,63 9542 m 95 yds 15 in 95.42 m 72.5 yrs old Dec. 13th 388 eaten 171.8 min 8.2 min
144mya Cretaceous Period; angiosperms rapidly diversify 0,67 9680 m 96 yds 28 in 96.80 m 73.5 yrs old Dec. 18th 394 eaten 174.2 min 5.8 min
65mya Tertiary Period; terrestrial and marine reptiles and many marine invertebrates go extinct 6,84 9856 m 98 yds 20 in 98.56 m 75 yrs old Dec. 24th 401 eaten 177.4 min 2.6 min
1.8mya Quaternary Period; 6,94 9996 m 99 yds 35 in 99.96 m 76 yrs, 355 d 8:30 p.m. 406.8 eaten 179.9 min 0.1 min


[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Piero e Alberto Angela (1992). La straordinaria storia della vita sulla terra. Mondadori editore. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
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