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The geologic time scale, proportionally represented as a log-spiral with some major events in Earth's history. A megaannus (Ma) represents one million (10 6) years.. The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth.
Bedrock geological map of Ireland. Layers of Upper Carboniferous sedimentary rocks, Loop Head, County Clare. The geology of Ireland consists of the study of the rock formations on the island of Ireland. It includes rocks from every age from Proterozoic to Holocene and a large variety of different rock types is represented.
Geologic map of North America, color-coded by age. From most recent to oldest, age is indicated by yellow, green, blue, and red. The reds and pinks indicate rock from the Archean. Mantle convection, the process that drives plate tectonics, is a result of heat flow from Earth's interior to Earth's surface.
The ages of more recent layers are calculated primarily by the study of fossils, which are remains of ancient life preserved in the rock. These occur consistently and so a theory is feasible. Most of the boundaries in recent geologic time coincide with extinctions (e.g., the dinosaurs) and with the appearances of new species (e.g., hominids).
Geologic time shown in a diagram called a geological clock, showing the relative lengths of the eons of Earth's history and noting major events The geological history of Earth follows the major geological events in Earth's past based on the geologic time scale , a system of chronological measurement based on the study of the planet's rock ...
The following five timelines show the geologic time scale to scale. The first shows the entire time from the formation of the Earth to the present, but this gives little space for the most recent eon. The second timeline shows an expanded view of the most recent eon.
The earliest evidence for life on Earth includes: 3.8 billion-year-old biogenic hematite in a banded iron formation of the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in Canada; [30] graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks in western Greenland; [31] and microbial mat fossils in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone in Western Australia.
Also called Indianite. A mineral from the lime-rich end of the plagioclase group of minerals. Anorthites are usually silicates of calcium and aluminium occurring in some basic igneous rocks, typically those produced by the contact metamorphism of impure calcareous sediments. anticline An arched fold in which the layers usually dip away from the fold axis. Contrast syncline. aphanic Having the ...