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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.
The Proterozoic (IPA: / ˌ p r oʊ t ər ə ˈ z oʊ ɪ k, ˌ p r ɒ t-,-ər oʊ-,-t r ə-,-t r oʊ-/ PROH-tər-ə-ZOH-ik, PROT-, -ər-oh-, -trə-, -troh-) [3] [4] [5] is the third of the four geologic eons of Earth's history, spanning the time interval from 2500 to 538.8 Mya, [6] and is the longest eon of Earth's geologic time scale.
Earth is the only place in the universe known to harbor life, where it exists in multiple environments. [8] [9] The origin of life on Earth was at least 3.5 billion years ago, possibly as early as 3.8-4.1 billion years ago. [2] [3] [4] Since its emergence, life has persisted in several geological environments.
The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and extinct organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to the present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as Ga, for gigaannum) and evidence suggests that life emerged prior to 3.7 Ga. [1] [2] [3] The similarities among all known present-day species indicate that they have diverged through the ...
The earliest Earth crust probably forms similarly out of similar material. On Earth the pluvial period starts, in which the Earth's crust cools enough to let oceans form. c. 4,404 Ma – First known mineral, found at Jack Hills in Western Australia. Detrital zircons show presence of a solid crust and liquid water.
Earth's surface temperature will reach around 420 K (147 °C; 296 °F), even at the poles. [78] [94] 2.8 billion High estimate until all remaining Earth life goes extinct. [78] [94] 3–4 billion The Earth's core freezes if the inner core continues to grow in size, based on its current growth rate of 1 mm (0.039 in) in diameter per year.
The Paleozoic is a time in Earth's history when active complex life forms evolved, took their first foothold on dry land, and when the forerunners of all multicellular life on Earth began to diversify. There are six periods in the Paleozoic era: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian. [10]
The Carboniferous (/ ˌ k ɑːr b ə ˈ n ɪ f ər ə s / KAR-bə-NIF-ər-əs) [6] is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period 358.86 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Permian Period, 298.9 Ma.