The geological history of Earth follows the major events in Earth's past based on the

geological time scale, a system of chronological measurement based on the study of the
planet's rock layers (stratigraphy). Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago by accretion
from the solar nebula, a disk-shaped mass of dust and gas left over from the formation of the
Sun, which also created the rest of the Solar System.

Geologic time represented in a diagram called a geological clock, showing the relative
lengths of the eons of Earth's history and noting major events
Earth was initially molten due to extreme volcanism and frequent collisions with other bodies.
Eventually, the outer layer of the planet cooled to form a solid crust when water began
accumulating in the atmosphere. The Moon formed soon afterwards, possibly as a result of
the impact of a planetoid with the Earth. Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the
primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, augmented by ice delivered from comets,
produced the oceans. However, more recently, in August 2020, researchers reported that
sufficient water to fill the oceans may have always been on the Earth since the beginning of
the planet's formation.

As the surface continually reshaped itself over hundreds of millions of years, continents
formed and broke apart. They migrated across the surface, occasionally combining to form a
supercontinent. Roughly 750 million years ago, the earliest-known supercontinent Rodinia,
began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia, 600 to 540 million
years ago, then finally Pangaea, which broke apart 200 million years ago.

The present pattern of ice ages began about 40 million years ago, then intensified at the end
of the Pliocene. The polar regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and
thaw, repeating every 40,000–100,000 years. The last glacial period of the current ice age
ended about 10,000 years ago

Precambrian Edit
Main article: Precambrian
The Precambrian includes approximately 90% of geologic time. It extends from 4.6 billion
years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian Period (about 541 Ma). It includes three eons,
the Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic.

Major volcanic events altering the Earth's environment and causing extinctions may have
occurred 10 times in the past 3 billion years.[4]

Hadean Eon Edit

Main article: Hadean

Artist's conception of a protoplanetary disc

During Hadean time (4.6–4 Ga), the Solar System was forming, probably within a large cloud
of gas and dust around the sun, called an accretion disc from which Earth formed 4,500
million years ago.[5] The Hadean Eon is not formally recognized, but it essentially marks the
era before we have adequate record of significant solid rocks. The oldest dated zircons date
from about 4,400 million years ago.[6][7][8]
Earth was initially molten due to extreme volcanism and frequent collisions with other bodies.
Eventually, the outer layer of the planet cooled to form a solid crust when water began
accumulating in the atmosphere. The Moon formed soon afterwards, possibly as a result of
the impact of a large planetoid with the Earth.[9][10] Some of this object's mass merged with
the Earth, significantly altering its internal composition, and a portion was ejected into space.
Some of the material survived to form an orbiting moon. More recent potassium isotopic
studies suggest that the Moon was formed by a smaller, high-energy,
high-angular-momentum giant impact cleaving off a significant portion of the Earth.[11]
Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water
vapor, augmented by ice delivered from comets, produced the oceans.[12] However, more
recently, in August 2020, researchers reported that sufficient water to fill the oceans may
have always been on the Earth since the beginning of the planet's formation.[1][2][3]

During the Hadean the Late Heavy Bombardment occurred (approximately 4,100 to 3,800
million years ago) during which a large number of impact craters are believed to have
formed on the Moon, and by inference on Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars as well.

Archean Eon Edit

Main article: Archean
The Earth of the early Archean (4,000 to 2,500 million years ago) may have had a different
tectonic style. During this time, the Earth's crust cooled enough that rocks and continental
plates began to form. Some scientists think because the Earth was hotter, that plate tectonic
activity was more vigorous than it is today, resulting in a much greater rate of recycling of
crustal material. This may have prevented cratonisation and continent formation until the
mantle cooled and convection slowed down. Others argue that the subcontinental
lithospheric mantle is too buoyant to subduct and that the lack of Archean rocks is a function
of erosion and subsequent tectonic events. Some geologists view the sudden increase of
aluminum content in zircons as indicator of the beginning of plate tectonics.[13]

In contrast to the Proterozoic, Archean rocks are often heavily metamorphized deep-water
sediments, such as graywackes, mudstones, volcanic sediments and banded iron
formations. Greenstone belts are typical Archean formations, consisting of alternating high-
and low-grade metamorphic rocks. The high-grade rocks were derived from volcanic island
arcs, while the low-grade metamorphic rocks represent deep-sea sediments eroded from the
neighboring island rocks and deposited in a forearc basin. In short, greenstone belts
represent sutured protocontinents.[14]

The Earth's magnetic field was established 3.5 billion years ago. The solar wind flux was
about 100 times the value of the modern Sun, so the presence of the magnetic field helped
prevent the planet's atmosphere from being stripped away, which is what probably happened
to the atmosphere of Mars. However, the field strength was lower than at present and the
magnetosphere was about half the modern radius.[15]

Proterozoic Eon Edit

Main article: Proterozoic
The geologic record of the Proterozoic (2,500 to 541 million years ago) is more complete
than that for the preceding Archean. In contrast to the deep-water deposits of the Archean,
the Proterozoic features many strata that were laid down in extensive shallow epicontinental
seas; furthermore, many of these rocks are less metamorphosed than Archean-age ones,
and plenty are unaltered.[16] Study of these rocks show that the eon featured massive, rapid
continental accretion (unique to the Proterozoic), supercontinent cycles, and wholly modern
orogenic activity.[17] Roughly 750 million years ago,[18] the earliest-known supercontinent
Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia, 600–540
Ma.[7][19]

The first-known glaciations occurred during the Proterozoic, one began shortly after the
beginning of the eon, while there were at least four during the Neoproterozoic, climaxing with
the Snowball Earth of the Varangian glaciation.[20]

Phanerozoic Edit
Main article: Phanerozoic
The Phanerozoic Eon is the current eon in the geologic timescale. It covers roughly 541
million years. During this period continents drifted about, eventually collected into a single
landmass known as Pangea and then split up into the current continental landmasses.

The Phanerozoic is divided into three eras – the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic.

Most of the evolution of multicellular life occurred during this time period.

Paleozoic Era Edit

Main article: Paleozoic
The Paleozoic spanned from roughly 542 to 251 million years ago (Ma)[7] and is subdivided
into six geologic periods; from oldest to youngest they are the Cambrian, Ordovician,
Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian. Geologically, the Paleozoic starts shortly
after the breakup of a supercontinent called Pannotia and at the end of a global ice age.
Throughout the early Paleozoic, the Earth's landmass was broken up into a substantial
number of relatively small continents. Toward the end of the era the continents gathered
together into a supercontinent called Pangaea, which included most of the Earth's land area.

Cambrian Period Edit

Main article: Cambrian
The Cambrian is a major division of the geologic timescale that begins about 541.0 ± 1.0
Ma.[7] Cambrian continents are thought to have resulted from the breakup of a
Neoproterozoic supercontinent called Pannotia. The waters of the Cambrian period appear
to have been widespread and shallow. Continental drift rates may have been anomalously
high. Laurentia, Baltica and Siberia remained independent continents following the break-up
of the supercontinent of Pannotia. Gondwana started to drift toward the South Pole.
Panthalassa covered most of the southern hemisphere, and minor oceans included the
Proto-Tethys Ocean, Iapetus Ocean and Khanty Ocean.

Ordovician period Edit

Main article: Ordovician
The Ordovician period started at a major extinction event called the Cambrian–Ordovician
extinction event some time at about 485.4 ± 1.9 Ma.During the Ordovician the southern
continents were collected into a single continent called Gondwana. Gondwana started the
period in the equatorial latitudes and, as the period progressed, drifted toward the South
Pole. Early in the Ordovician the continents Laurentia, Siberia and Baltica were still
independent continents (since the break-up of the supercontinent Pannotia earlier), but
Baltica began to move toward Laurentia later in the period, causing the Iapetus Ocean to
shrink between them. Also, Avalonia broke free from Gondwana and began to head north
toward Laurentia. The Rheic Ocean was formed as a result of this. By the end of the period,
Gondwana had neared or approached the pole and was largely glaciated.

The Ordovician came to a close in a series of extinction events that, taken together,
comprise the second-largest of the five major extinction events in Earth's history in terms of
percentage of genera that became extinct. The only larger one was the Permian-Triassic
extinction event. The extinctions occurred approximately 447 to 444 million years ago [7] and
mark the boundary between the Ordovician and the following Silurian Period.

The most-commonly accepted theory is that these events were triggered by the onset of an
ice age, in the Hirnantian faunal stage that ended the long, stable greenhouse conditions
typical of the Ordovician. The ice age was probably not as long-lasting as once thought;
study of oxygen isotopes in fossil brachiopods shows that it was probably no longer than 0.5
to 1.5 million years.[21] The event was preceded by a fall in atmospheric carbon dioxide
(from 7000ppm to 4400ppm) which selectively affected the shallow seas where most
organisms lived. As the southern supercontinent Gondwana drifted over the South Pole, ice
caps formed on it. Evidence of these ice caps have been detected in Upper Ordovician rock
strata of North Africa and then-adjacent northeastern South America, which were south-polar
locations at the time.

Silurian PeriodEdit
Main article: Silurian
The Silurian is a major division of the geologic timescale that started about 443.8 ± 1.5
Ma.[7] During the Silurian, Gondwana continued a slow southward drift to high southern
latitudes, but there is evidence that the Silurian ice caps were less extensive than those of
the late Ordovician glaciation. The melting of ice caps and glaciers contributed to a rise in
sea levels, recognizable from the fact that Silurian sediments overlie eroded Ordovician
sediments, forming an unconformity. Other cratons and continent fragments drifted together
near the equator, starting the formation of a second supercontinent known as Euramerica.
The vast ocean of Panthalassa covered most of the northern hemisphere. Other minor
oceans include Proto-Tethys, Paleo-Tethys, Rheic Ocean, a seaway of Iapetus Ocean (now
in between Avalonia and Laurentia), and newly formed Ural Ocean.

Devonian Period Edit

Main article: Devonian
The Devonian spanned roughly from 419 to 359 Ma.[7] The period was a time of great
tectonic activity, as Laurasia and Gondwana drew closer together. The continent Euramerica
(or Laurussia) was created in the early Devonian by the collision of Laurentia and Baltica,
which rotated into the natural dry zone along the Tropic of Capricorn. In these near-deserts,
the Old Red Sandstone sedimentary beds formed, made red by the oxidized iron (hematite)
characteristic of drought conditions. Near the equator Pangaea began to consolidate from
the plates containing North America and Europe, further raising the northern Appalachian
Mountains and forming the Caledonian Mountains in Great Britain and Scandinavia. The
southern continents remained tied together in the supercontinent of Gondwana. The
remainder of modern Eurasia lay in the Northern Hemisphere. Sea levels were high
worldwide, and much of the land lay submerged under shallow seas. The deep, enormous
Panthalassa (the "universal ocean") covered the rest of the planet. Other minor oceans were
Paleo-Tethys, Proto-Tethys, Rheic Ocean and Ural Ocean (which was closed during the
collision with Siberia and Baltica).

Carboniferous Period Edit

Main article: Carboniferous
The Carboniferous extends from about 358.9 ± 0.4 to about 298.9 ± 0.15 Ma.[7]

A global drop in sea level at the end of the Devonian reversed early in the Carboniferous;
this created the widespread epicontinental seas and carbonate deposition of the
Mississippian. There was also a drop in south polar temperatures; southern Gondwana was
glaciated throughout the period, though it is uncertain if the ice sheets were a holdover from
the Devonian or not. These conditions apparently had little effect in the deep tropics, where
lush coal swamps flourished within 30 degrees of the northernmost glaciers. A
mid-Carboniferous drop in sea-level precipitated a major marine extinction, one that hit
crinoids and ammonites especially hard. This sea-level drop and the associated
unconformity in North America separate the Mississippian Period from the Pennsylvanian
period.[22]

The Carboniferous was a time of active mountain building, as the supercontinent Pangea
came together. The southern continents remained tied together in the supercontinent
Gondwana, which collided with North America-Europe (Laurussia) along the present line of
eastern North America. This continental collision resulted in the Hercynian orogeny in
Europe, and the Alleghenian orogeny in North America; it also extended the newly uplifted
Appalachians southwestward as the Ouachita Mountains.[23] In the same time frame, much
of present eastern Eurasian plate welded itself to Europe along the line of the Ural
mountains. There were two major oceans in the Carboniferous the Panthalassa and
Paleo-Tethys. Other minor oceans were shrinking and eventually closed the Rheic Ocean
(closed by the assembly of South and North America), the small, shallow Ural Ocean (which
was closed by the collision of Baltica, and Siberia continents, creating the Ural Mountains)
and Proto-Tethys Ocean.

Pangaea separation animation

Permian Period Edit
Main article: Permian
The Permian extends from about 298.9 ± 0.15 to 252.17 ± 0.06 Ma.[7]

During the Permian all the Earth's major land masses, except portions of East Asia, were
collected into a single supercontinent known as Pangaea. Pangaea straddled the equator
and extended toward the poles, with a corresponding effect on ocean currents in the single
great ocean (Panthalassa, the universal sea), and the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, a large ocean
that was between Asia and Gondwana. The Cimmeria continent rifted away from Gondwana
and drifted north to Laurasia, causing the Paleo-Tethys to shrink. A new ocean was growing
on its southern end, the Tethys Ocean, an ocean that would dominate much of the Mesozoic
Era. Large continental landmasses create climates with extreme variations of heat and cold
("continental climate") and monsoon conditions with highly seasonal rainfall patterns.
Deserts seem to have been widespread on Pangaea.

Mesozoic Era Edit

Main article: Mesozoic

Plate tectonics- 249 million years ago

Plate tectonics- 290 million years ago

The Mesozoic extended roughly from 252 to 66 million years ago.[7]

After the vigorous convergent plate mountain-building of the late Paleozoic, Mesozoic
tectonic deformation was comparatively mild. Nevertheless, the era featured the dramatic
rifting of the supercontinent Pangaea. Pangaea gradually split into a northern continent,
Laurasia, and a southern continent, Gondwana. This created the passive continental margin
that characterizes most of the Atlantic coastline (such as along the U.S. East Coast) today.

Triassic Period Edit

Main article: Triassic
The Triassic Period extends from about 252.17 ± 0.06 to 201.3 ± 0.2 Ma.[7] During the
Triassic, almost all the Earth's land mass was concentrated into a single supercontinent
centered more or less on the equator, called Pangaea ("all the land"). This took the form of a
giant "Pac-Man" with an east-facing "mouth" constituting the Tethys sea, a vast gulf that
opened farther westward in the mid-Triassic, at the expense of the shrinking Paleo-Tethys
Ocean, an ocean that existed during the Paleozoic.

The remainder was the world-ocean known as Panthalassa ("all the sea"). All the
deep-ocean sediments laid down during the Triassic have disappeared through subduction
of oceanic plates; thus, very little is known of the Triassic open ocean. The supercontinent
Pangaea was rifting during the Triassic—especially late in the period—but had not yet
separated. The first nonmarine sediments in the rift that marks the initial break-up of
Pangea—which separated New Jersey from Morocco—are of Late Triassic age; in the U.S.,
these thick sediments comprise the Newark Supergroup.[24] Because of the limited
shoreline of one super-continental mass, Triassic marine deposits are globally relatively rare;
despite their prominence in Western Europe, where the Triassic was first studied. In North
America, for example, marine deposits are limited to a few exposures in the west. Thus
Triassic stratigraphy is mostly based on organisms living in lagoons and hypersaline
environments, such as Estheria crustaceans and terrestrial vertebrates.[25]

Jurassic Period Edit

Main article: Jurassic
The Jurassic Period extends from about 201.3 ± 0.2 to 145.0 Ma.[7] During the early
Jurassic, the supercontinent Pangaea broke up into the northern supercontinent Laurasia
and the southern supercontinent Gondwana; the Gulf of Mexico opened in the new rift
between North America and what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The Jurassic North
Atlantic Ocean was relatively narrow, while the South Atlantic did not open until the following
Cretaceous Period, when Gondwana itself rifted apart.[26] The Tethys Sea closed, and the
Neotethys basin appeared. Climates were warm, with no evidence of glaciation. As in the
Triassic, there was apparently no land near either pole, and no extensive ice caps existed.
The Jurassic geological record is good in western Europe, where extensive marine
sequences indicate a time when much of the continent was submerged under shallow
tropical seas; famous locales include the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and the
renowned late Jurassic lagerstätten of Holzmaden and Solnhofen.[27] In contrast, the North
American Jurassic record is the poorest of the Mesozoic, with few outcrops at the
surface.[28] Though the epicontinental Sundance Sea left marine deposits in parts of the
northern plains of the United States and Canada during the late Jurassic, most exposed
sediments from this period are continental, such as the alluvial deposits of the Morrison
Formation. The first of several massive batholiths were emplaced in the northern Cordillera
beginning in the mid-Jurassic, marking the Nevadan orogeny.[29] Important Jurassic
exposures are also found in Russia, India, South America, Japan, Australasia and the United
Kingdom.

Cretaceous Period Edit

Main article: Cretaceous

Plate tectonics- 100 Ma,[7] Cretaceous period

The Cretaceous Period extends from circa 145 million years ago to 66 million years ago.[7]

During the Cretaceous, the late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic supercontinent of Pangaea

completed its breakup into present day continents, although their positions were
substantially different at the time. As the Atlantic Ocean widened, the convergent-margin
orogenies that had begun during the Jurassic continued in the North American Cordillera, as
the Nevadan orogeny was followed by the Sevier and Laramide orogenies. Though
Gondwana was still intact in the beginning of the Cretaceous, Gondwana itself broke up as
South America, Antarctica and Australia rifted away from Africa (though India and
Madagascar remained attached to each other); thus, the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans
were newly formed. Such active rifting lifted great undersea mountain chains along the welts,
raising eustatic sea levels worldwide.

To the north of Africa the Tethys Sea continued to narrow. Broad shallow seas advanced
across central North America (the Western Interior Seaway) and Europe, then receded late
in the period, leaving thick marine deposits sandwiched between coal beds. At the peak of
the Cretaceous transgression, one-third of Earth's present land area was submerged.[30]
The Cretaceous is justly famous for its chalk; indeed, more chalk formed in the Cretaceous
than in any other period in the Phanerozoic.[31] Mid-ocean ridge activity—or rather, the
circulation of seawater through the enlarged ridges—enriched the oceans in calcium; this
made the oceans more saturated, as well as increased the bioavailability of the element for
calcareous nanoplankton.[32] These widespread carbonates and other sedimentary deposits
make the Cretaceous rock record especially fine. Famous formations from North America
include the rich marine fossils of Kansas's Smoky Hill Chalk Member and the terrestrial
fauna of the late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation. Other important Cretaceous exposures
occur in Europe and China. In the area that is now India, massive lava beds called the
Deccan Traps were laid down in the very late Cretaceous and early Paleocene.

Cenozoic Era Edit

Main article: Cenozoic
The Cenozoic Era covers the 66 million years since the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction
event up to and including the present day. By the end of the Mesozoic era, the continents
had rifted into nearly their present form. Laurasia became North America and Eurasia, while
Gondwana split into South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica and the Indian subcontinent,
which collided with the Asian plate. This impact gave rise to the Himalayas. The Tethys Sea,
which had separated the northern continents from Africa and India, began to close up,
forming the Mediterranean Sea.

Paleogene Period Edit

Main article: Paleogene
The Paleogene (alternatively Palaeogene) Period is a unit of geologic time that began 66
and ended 23.03 Ma[7] and comprises the first part of the Cenozoic Era. This period
consists of the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene Epochs.

Paleocene Epoch Edit

Main article: Paleocene
The Paleocene, lasted from 66 million years ago to 56 million years ago.[7]

In many ways, the Paleocene continued processes that had begun during the late
Cretaceous Period. During the Paleocene, the continents continued to drift toward their
present positions. Supercontinent Laurasia had not yet separated into three continents.
Europe and Greenland were still connected. North America and Asia were still intermittently
joined by a land bridge, while Greenland and North America were beginning to separate.[33]
The Laramide orogeny of the late Cretaceous continued to uplift the Rocky Mountains in the
American west, which ended in the succeeding epoch. South and North America remained
separated by equatorial seas (they joined during the Neogene); the components of the
former southern supercontinent Gondwana continued to split apart, with Africa, South
America, Antarctica and Australia pulling away from each other. Africa was heading north
toward Europe, slowly closing the Tethys Ocean, and India began its migration to Asia that
would lead to a tectonic collision and the formation of the Himalayas.

Eocene EpochEdit
Main article: Eocene
During the Eocene (56 million years ago - 33.9 million years ago),[7] the continents
continued to drift toward their present positions. At the beginning of the period, Australia and
Antarctica remained connected, and warm equatorial currents mixed with colder Antarctic
waters, distributing the heat around the world and keeping global temperatures high. But
when Australia split from the southern continent around 45 Ma, the warm equatorial currents
were deflected away from Antarctica, and an isolated cold water channel developed between
the two continents. The Antarctic region cooled down, and the ocean surrounding Antarctica
began to freeze, sending cold water and ice floes north, reinforcing the cooling. The present
pattern of ice ages began about 40 million years ago.[citation needed]

The northern supercontinent of Laurasia began to break up, as Europe, Greenland and
North America drifted apart. In western North America, mountain building started in the
Eocene, and huge lakes formed in the high flat basins among uplifts. In Europe, the Tethys
Sea finally vanished, while the uplift of the Alps isolated its final remnant, the Mediterranean,
and created another shallow sea with island archipelagos to the north. Though the North
Atlantic was opening, a land connection appears to have remained between North America
and Europe since the faunas of the two regions are very similar. India continued its journey
away from Africa and began its collision with Asia, creating the Himalayan orogeny.

Oligocene Epoch Edit

Main article: Oligocene
The Oligocene Epoch extends from about 34 million years ago to 23 million years ago.[7]
During the Oligocene the continents continued to drift toward their present positions.

Antarctica continued to become more isolated and finally developed a permanent ice cap.
Mountain building in western North America continued, and the Alps started to rise in Europe
as the African plate continued to push north into the Eurasian plate, isolating the remnants of
Tethys Sea. A brief marine incursion marks the early Oligocene in Europe. There appears to
have been a land bridge in the early Oligocene between North America and Europe since
the faunas of the two regions are very similar. During the Oligocene, South America was
finally detached from Antarctica and drifted north toward North America. It also allowed the
Antarctic Circumpolar Current to flow, rapidly cooling the continent.

Neogene Period Edit

Main article: Neogene
The Neogene Period is a unit of geologic time starting 23.03 Ma.[7] and ends at 2.588 Ma.
The Neogene Period follows the Paleogene Period. The Neogene consists of the Miocene
and Pliocene and is followed by the Quaternary Period.

Miocene Epoch Edit

Main article: Miocene
The Miocene extends from about 23.03 to 5.333 Ma.[7]

During the Miocene continents continued to drift toward their present positions. Of the
modern geologic features, only the land bridge between South America and North America
was absent, the subduction zone along the Pacific Ocean margin of South America caused
the rise of the Andes and the southward extension of the Meso-American peninsula. India
continued to collide with Asia. The Tethys Seaway continued to shrink and then disappeared
as Africa collided with Eurasia in the Turkish-Arabian region between 19 and 12 Ma (ICS
2004). Subsequent uplift of mountains in the western Mediterranean region and a global fall
in sea levels combined to cause a temporary drying up of the Mediterranean Sea resulting in
the Messinian salinity crisis near the end of the Miocene.

Pliocene Epoch Edit

Main article: Pliocene
The Pliocene extends from 5.333 million years ago to 2.588 million years ago.[7] During the
Pliocene continents continued to drift toward their present positions, moving from positions
possibly as far as 250 kilometres (155 mi) from their present locations to positions only 70
km from their current locations.

South America became linked to North America through the Isthmus of Panama during the
Pliocene, bringing a nearly complete end to South America's distinctive marsupial faunas.
The formation of the Isthmus had major consequences on global temperatures, since warm
equatorial ocean currents were cut off and an Atlantic cooling cycle began, with cold Arctic
and Antarctic waters dropping temperatures in the now-isolated Atlantic Ocean. Africa's
collision with Europe formed the Mediterranean Sea, cutting off the remnants of the Tethys
Ocean. Sea level changes exposed the land-bridge between Alaska and Asia. Near the end
of the Pliocene, about 2.58 million years ago (the start of the Quaternary Period), the current
ice age began. The polar regions have since undergone repeated cycles of glaciation and
thaw, repeating every 40,000–100,000 years.

Quaternary Period Edit

Main article: Quaternary
Pleistocene Epoch Edit
Main article: Pleistocene
The Pleistocene extends from 2.588 million years ago to 11,700 years before present.[7] The
modern continents were essentially at their present positions during the Pleistocene, the
plates upon which they sit probably having moved no more than 100 kilometres (62 mi)
relative to each other since the beginning of the period.

Holocene Epoch Edit

Main article: Holocene

Current Earth - without water, elevation greatly exaggerated (click/enlarge to "spin"

3D-globe).
The Holocene Epoch began approximately 11,700 calendar years before present[7] and
continues to the present. During the Holocene, continental motions have been less than a
kilometer.

The last glacial period of the current ice age ended about 10,000 years ago.[34] Ice melt
caused world sea levels to rise about 35 metres (115 ft) in the early part of the Holocene. In
addition, many areas above about 40 degrees north latitude had been depressed by the
weight of the Pleistocene glaciers and rose as much as 180 metres (591 ft) over the late
Pleistocene and Holocene, and are still rising today. The sea level rise and temporary land
depression allowed temporary marine incursions into areas that are now far from the sea.
Holocene marine fossils are known from Vermont, Quebec, Ontario and Michigan. Other
than higher latitude temporary marine incursions associated with glacial depression,
Holocene fossils are found primarily in lakebed, floodplain and cave deposits. Holocene
marine deposits along low-latitude coastlines are rare because the rise in sea levels during
the period exceeds any likely upthrusting of non-glacial origin. Post-glacial rebound in
Scandinavia resulted in the emergence of coastal areas around the Baltic Sea, including
much of Finland. The region continues to rise, still causing weak earthquakes across
Northern Europe. The equivalent event in North America was the rebound of Hudson Bay, as
it shrank from its larger, immediate post-glacial Tyrrell Sea phase, to near its present
boundaries.