Geologic time is divided into a four-level hierarchy of time intervals:

EONS -- The first and largest division of geologic time. ERAS -- The second division of geologic time; each era has at least two periods. PERIODS-- The third division of geologic time. Periods are named for either location or characteristics of the defining rock formations. Location = the region where the period's characteristic rocks were first studied. Characteristics = the nature of the unique system of rocks and rock formations that define the Period. EPOCHS -- The fourth division of geologic time; represents the subdivisions of a period.

Geologists use a number of techniques to determine the age of rocks, for instance: basic field observations help them work out the relative sequence of geological events, such as the order in which sediments were deposited; because species evolve and become extinct, fossils of some plants and animals are confined to known periods of geological time; and because radioactive elements decay at a known rate, in some circumstances they can be used to calculate how many years have passed since a mineral crystallised or a rock was deposited.

Fossil yang bisa digunakan untuk penentuan umur hanya yang bersifat insitu ditempat hidupnya (Biocoenoese) dan atau yang terpindahkan dari tempat hidupnya Thanathocoenoese). Fossil yang bisa digunakan untuk penentuan lingkungan hidup atau lingkungan pengendapan hanya yang bersifat insitu (Biocoenoese) Fossil yang berasal dari rombakan yang lebih tua tidak bisa digunakan untuk menentukan baik Umur maupun lingkungan pengendapan (Reworked fossil)

Life began 3.8 billion years ago, and insects diversified 290 Million years ago, but the human and chimpanzee Lineages diverged only five million years ago. How have scientists figured out the dates of long past evolutionary events? Here are some of the methods and evidence that scientists Use to put dates on events: 1. Radiometric dating relies on half-life decay of radioactive elements to allow scientists to date rocks and materials directly. 2. Stratigraphy provides a sequence of events from which relative dates can be extrapolated. 3. Molecular clocks allow scientists to use the amount of genetic divergence between organisms to extrapolate backwards to estimate dates.

The age of the Earth and its inhabitants has been determined Through two complementary lines of evidence: relative Dating and numerical (or radiometric) dating. Relative dating places fossils in a temporal sequence by noting their positions in layers of rocks, known as strata. Sometimes this method doesn't work, either because the layers weren't deposited horizontally to begin with, or because they have been overturned. If that's the case, we can use one of three other methods to date fossil-bearing layers relative to one another: faunal succession, crosscutting relationships, and inclusions. By studying and comparing strata from all over the world we can learn which came first and which came next, but we need further evidence to ascertain the specific, or numerical, ages of fossils.

Fundamental principles of Geology

(7 principles to establish the relative ages of rocks).

Most sedimentary rocks occur in the form of layers called beds or strata. Each layer is the result of the deposition of sediment during some natural event (such as a flood or storm).

A. Steno's Laws Named for Nicholaus Steno, a Danish physician living in Florence, Italy in the 1600's. 1. Principle of Superposition Oldest rocks on the bottom Younger rocks on top 2. Principle of Original Horizontality Sediments are deposited in flat layers 3. Principle of Original Lateral Continuity Sediments are deposited over a large area in a continuous sheet

B. Other basic principles of Geology which we can use for relative dating (or determining which rocks are
older or younger)

4. Principle of intrusive relationships

The intrusion is younger than the rocks it cuts

5. Principle of cross-cutting relationships

The fault is younger than the rocks it cuts.

6. Principle of components or inclusions

Note the irregular erosional surface. This is an Unconformity. The clasts (in the bed above the unconformity) are derived from the underlying (older) bed. The gravel clasts are older than the layer which contains them. The layer containing the gravel must be younger than the layer from which the clasts originate.

The principle of components or inclusions also applies to xenoliths. A xenolith is a fragment of country rocks which has been broken off during an intrusion, and has become surrounded by magma. The xenolith is older than the igneous rock which contains it.

7. Principle of fossil succession

Fossils occur in a consistent vertical order in sedimentary rocks all over the world. (William"Strata Bill" Smith, late 1700's, England). This principle is valid and does not depend on any pre-existing ideas of evolution. Geologists interpret fossil succession to be the result of evolution - the natural appearance and disappearance of species through time.

Angular unconformities Implies tectonic deformation and erosion of underlying strata. Nonconformity Sedimentary strata overlying igneous or metamorphic rocks (in an erosional - not intrusivecontact) Disconformity An irregular surface of erosion betwen two units of parallel strata Paraconformity A planar surface between two parallel units of sedimentary rock, representing a period of non-deposition, but no erosion.

ANGULARunconformity

Nonconformity

Disconformity

Paraconformity

Numerical dating relies on the decay of radioactive elements, such as uranium, potassium, rubidium and carbon. Very old rocks must be dated using volcanic material. By dating volcanic ash layers both above and below a fossil-bearing layer, as shown in the diagram, you can determine "older than X, but younger than Y" dates for the fossils. Sedimentary rocks less than 50,000 years old can be dated as well, using their radioactive carbon content

Many minerals contain radioactive isotopes. In theory, the age of any of these minerals can be determined by 1) counting the number of daughter isotopes in the mineral, and 2) using the known decay rate to calculate the length of time required to produce that number of daughters.

The time of the transition from one interval of geologic time to the subsequent one is usually marked by a relatively abrupt change in fossil types and numbers. is not known precisely, with the uncertainty increasing with increasing age since fossils become rarer and harder to identify in the distant past.

PRE-ARCHEAN EON (or HADEAN EON) (4.6 to 3.8 Billion years) ~4.6 BYA -- Formation of Earth and Moon (as indicated by dating of meteorites and rocks from the Moon) , The Earth forms and is bombarded by meteorites and comets. ~4 BYA -- Likely origin of life This is the "hidden" portion of geologic time as there is little evidence of this time remaining in Earth's rocks

ARCHEAN EON (3.8 to 2.5 Billion years) The eon of first life ~3.8 BYA -- Oldest known rocks, Replicating molecules (the precursors of DNA) form.

~3.5 BYA -- Oldest known fossils (single celled organisms resembling bacteria), Unicellular life evolves. Photosynthetic bacteria begin to release oxygen into the atmosphere.
3.2 BYA -- First known plants (algae)

PROTEROZOIC EON (2.5 Billion to 570 Million years) The eon of the first multicelled life 1.2 BYA -- First known animal (jellyfish) (End of the Pre-Cambrian -- a period at least five times longer than all the geologic time that follows.),

The eon of complex life

The era of ocean life; land animals appear toward the end of this era

Cambrian Period (570 to 505 Millions years) Onset marked by the appearance of first shellfish and corals; sometime called the "age of marine invertebrates Abundant fossils appear in the rock record for the first time End of the Cambrian denoted by the appearance of fish, Multi-cellular marine organisms are common. Between 510M and 505MYA - Fish first appear in the fossil record; these are the first vertebrates, Ordovician Period (505 Million years to 438 Million years) Arthropods move onto the land. Their descendants evolve into scorpions, spiders, mites, and millipedes. Fish-like vertebrates evolve. Invertebrates, such as trilobites, crinoids, brachiopids, and cephalopods, are common in the oceans.

Silurian Period (438 Million to 408 Million years) Appearance of the first land plants; mountain building in Europe Land plants evolve, drastically changing Earth's landscape and creating new habitats.,

Devonian Period (408 to 360 Million years) The first insects and first amphibians/tetrapods; "age of fishes, first abundant forests on land Carboniferous Period Mississippian Period (360 to 320 Million years) Abundant amphibians and the appearance of the first reptiles, Four-limbed vertebrates move onto the land as seed plants and large forests appear. The Earth's oceans support vast reef systems.

Pennsylvanian Period - 320 to 286 Million years 305 MYA -- The first mammal-like reptiles

Permian Period - 286 to 245 Million years Reptiles spread and diversify; evaporate deposits; glaciation in the Southern HemisphereOver 90% of marine life and 70% of terrestrial life go extinct during the Earth's largest mass extinction. Ammonites are among the survivors., The supercontinent called Pangea forms. Conifer-like forests, reptiles, and synapsids (the ancestors of mammals) are common.

Triassic Period (245 to 208 Million years) First appearance of mammals (around 222 MYA); First appearance of dinosaurs in the fossil record, Dinosaurs and mammals evolve. Pangea has begun to break apart. Jurassic Period (208 to 145 Million years) dominance of the dinosaurs; mountain building in North America 150 MYA -- First birds Cretaceous Period (145 to 65 Million years) Flowering plants appear and spread rapidly; continued increase in dinosaurs. Climate warmer than at present, with sea level higher As the continents drift toward their present positions, the earliest flowers evolve, and dinosaurs dominate the landscape. In the sea, bony fish diversify. This period (and also the Mesozoic Era) end abruptly with death of the dinosaurs,

The era of mammals

Tertiary Period (65 Million to 1.6 Million years ago) Paleocene Epoch (65 Million to 58 Million years ago) Began with extinction of the dinosaurs , A massive asteroid hits the Yucatan Peninsula, and ammonites and non-avian dinosaurs go extinct. Birds and mammals are among the survivors. Mountain building in Europe and Asia Eocene Epoch (58 Million to 37 Million years ago) Horses (around 53 MYA), whales, and monkeys first appear in the fossil record Oligocene Epoch (37 Million to 24 Million years ago) Elephants and apes first appear in the fossil record Miocene Epoch (24 Million to 5 Million years ago) Hominids first appear in the fossil record Pilocene Epoch (5 Million to 1.6 Million years ago) The ice ages begin, and many large mammals go extinct. 2 MYA -- First humanlike animal ,In Africa, an early hominid, affectionately named "Lucy" by scientists, lives.

Quaternary Period ( 1.6 Million years to the Present)

Pleistocene Epoch

(1.6 Million to 10,000 years

ago) The modern ice age; first modern humans appear

Holocene Epoch (10,000 years ago to present

day)
Began with the end of the most recent glaciation