16. Earth and Life History of the Earth

HISTORY OF
THE EARTH
Diarose C. Tan
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able
to:
 Explain the Geologic time scale of the history

of the Earth
 When plants and animals die, their remains
and imprints are buried in rocks or sediments.
These preserved remains or traces are called
fossils. Fossils are pieces of evidence that life
has happened in the past. Information from
these fossils are used to construct the
geologic time scale.
 The geologic time scale is a record of the

geologic history of the Earth. It is made up of
time units that divide Earth’s history based on
the appearance or disappearance of life forms
(supported by fossil remains) in specific times.
This scale helps us to study and interpret the
history of life on Earth.
The Earth’s history is recorded in the
rocks of the crust. Scientists used an
assumption called
uniformitarianism in order to relate
what we know about present-day
processes to past events - the
present is the key to the past.
Uniformitarianism - states that the

natural laws we know today have
been constant over the geologic past.
 As shown in the diagram below, the
geologic time scale is divided into
hierarchical chunks of time. From largest
to smallest, this hierarchy includes eon,
era, period, and epoch. The last column,
indicates millions of years ago, it is
represented by Ma which means mega-
annum.
 An eon, the largest division of the

geologic time scale, spans hundreds to
thousands of millions of years. There are
three major eons, the Archean,
Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic eons. The
Phanerozoic eon is the one we are in
 Anera is hundreds of millions of years long.
The three major eras in the Phanerozoic eon
are the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic
eras. Mass extinctions mark the boundaries
between the eras. We are in the Cenozoic
era, which began 65 million years ago, after
the extinction of the dinosaurs.
A period is tens of millions of years long. It is

based on the forms of life existing at that
time. For instance, the tertiary and
quaternary periods comprise the Cenozoic
Era. The tertiary period is the beginning of
the age of mammals while the quaternary
period is considered the age of humans.
 Anepoch is several million years
long. It is the division of the most
recent periods. For example, the
quaternary period, which began
with an ice age about 1.8 million
years ago, is divided into two
epochs, the Pleistocene and
Holocene epochs. Each epoch has
unique geography and climate, so
plants and animals that existed
during those times are unique to
each epoch, too.
 Geologic Timescale
- developed through the use of relative
dating and specific dates were applied to
it via radiometric dating.
 Geologic timescale is divided into three
eras:
1) Paleozoic (time of ancient life)
2) Mesozoic (time of middle life)
3) Cenozoic (time of recent life)
- Each era is divided into periods and
epochs.
- The largest span of time, the time period
preceding the Paleozoic is known as the
 A) The Precambrian Time
- era ranges from about 4.6 billion years
ago when the earth formed, to about 544
million years ago when abundant
microscopic life appeared.
- The Earth’s earliest gases were
hypothesized to be swept into space by
solar wind. As the planet slowly cooled, a
more sustaining atmosphere was formed.
- Gases brought to the surface by volcanic
processes created both primitive
atmosphere and an ocean. The first
atmosphere was rich in water vapor but
very poor in free oxygen.
- The first simple organism were plants.
During this period, organisms such as
blue green algae developed a simple
version of photosynthesis.
Photosynthetic organisms require
carbon dioxide to utilize the Sun’s
energy. They keep the carbon dioxide
and expel oxygen. With the release of
free oxygen a primitive ozone layer
began to develop which reduced the
amount of harmful ultraviolet radiation
reaching the Earth.
-
- The most common precambrian
fossils are stromatolites. These are
not remains of actual organisms, rather
indirect pieces evidence of algae. Many
of Precambrian fossils were presereved
in hard, dense chemical sedimentary
rock known as chert. Fossils of plants
date from Precambrian, but fossils of
animals date in the late Precambrian.
Towards the end of this period, fossils
record revealed that diverse and
complete multi-celled organismes
existed.
B) The Paleozoic Era
- began about 544 million years ago
and lasted about 300 million years ago,
during which time sea levels rose and
fell worldwide, allowing shallow seas to
cover the continents and marine life to
flourish - from marine invertibrates to
fishes, amphibians and reptiles.
6 major periods of Paleozoic Era:
a) Cambrian d) Devonian
b) Ordovician e) Carboniferous
c) Silurian f) Permian
a) Cambrian Period
- Almost all marine organisms came to
existence as evidenced by abundant
fossils . Most important event is the
development of organisms having the
ability to secret calcium carbonate and
calcium phosphate for the formation of
shells.
b) Ordovician Period
- All major groups of animals that could be
preserved as fossils had appeared . This
period marsk the earliest appearance of
vertebrates - the jawless fish known as
the agnatha.
c) Silurian Period
- brought about the
emergence of
terrestrial life , the
earlist being- the
terrestrial plants with
well-developed
cisculatory system
(vascular plants). As
plants move ashore so
did other terrestrial
organisms. Air-
breathing scorpions
and millipedes were
common during the
period.
d) Devonian
Period
- known as the
age of fishes
-lowlands forests
of seed ferns,
scale trees and
true ferns
flourished. Sharks
and bony fishes
developed .
- Today the lung fishes and coelacanth, a
living fossil have such internal nostrils and
breathe in similar way. The first
amphibians made their appearance,
altough able to love on land, they need to
return to the water to lay their eggs.
Carboniferous Period
Warm, moist climate conditions
contributed to lash vegetation and dense
swampy forest. Insects under rapid
evolution led to such diverse forms of
giant cockroaches and dragonflies. The
evolution of the first reptiles took place
with the development of the amniotic
egg, a porous shell containing a
membrane that provided an environment
for an embryo.
Permian Period
The reptiles were well suited to their
environment that they ruled the Earth for
200 million years. The two major groups
of reptiles - diapsids and synapsids
dominated this period. Diapsids gave rise
to the dinosaurs. Synapsids gave rise to
mammals.
C. Mesozoic Era
Known as the age of reptiles, made up of
three periods Triasic, Jurassic and
Creataceous. The most significant event was
the rise of the dinosaurs.
A famous Jurassic deposit is the Morrison
Formation in which the world’s richest store
house of dinosaurs was preserved. True pines
and redwoods appeared and rapidly spread.
Flowering plants arose and their emergence
accelerated the evolution of insects. A major
event of this era was the break up of Pangea.
By the end of this period, dinosaurs and
reptiles were wiped out.
Morrison Foundation - a distinctive sequence
of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in
the western United States which has been
the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in
North America. It is composed of mudstone,
sandstone, siltstone, and limestone and is
light gray, greenish gray, or red.
D. Cenozoic Era
Known as the “age of mammals”
because they replaced the reptiles as the
dominant land animal. It is also
sometimes called “age of flowering
plants” because angiosperms replace
gymnosperms as the dominant land
plants.
Made up of two periods Tertiary and
Quaternary. From oldest to youngest
period are broken up into the Paleocene,
Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene
for the tertiary period, and the Pleistocene
and Holocene for the quaternary period.
Climates cooled during this era, hence the
widespread glaciation. This era also
brought about the advent of humans. The
lowered sea level resulted in the “land
bidges” connections between land
masses. One of these land bridges
provided the route for the human
migration from Asia to North America,
also througout the world.
LEARN ABOUT IT!
 The subdivisions of the geologic time scale are
identified through marker fossils, or guide fossils.
A marker fossil is a fossil of a plant or an animal
that existed for a relatively short period of time.
It helps geologists distinguish between rock
strata from different time periods.
 For a fossil to be considered as a guide, it should

be common, can easily be identified at the
species level, and should be distributed at many
locations on the Earth. Also, the shorter the life
period of a fossil, the greater the chances of
correlating it with different sediments.
KEY POINTS
 Fossils are plant or animal impressions preserved in rocks
that provide evidence of life forms in the past.
 The geologic time scale is a record of the geologic history
of the Earth.
 Geologic time scale is divided into eons, eras, periods, and
epochs.
 Divisions within the geologic time scale are based on the
appearance or disappearance of organisms at specific

times.
 A marker fossil is used to define and identify subdivisions
of the geologic time scale. It is a fossil of a plant or animal

that existed for a relatively short period of time.

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HISTORY OF

 Explain the Geologic time scale of the history

 The geologic time scale is a record of the

Uniformitarianism - states that the

 An eon, the largest division of the

A period is tens of millions of years long. It is

 For a fossil to be considered as a guide, it should

appearance or disappearance of organisms at specific

of the geologic time scale. It is a fossil of a plant or animal

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