Forming Fossils - Geologic Time

7 important questions on Forming Fossils - Geologic Time

What are the divisions of the geologic time scale?

The geologic time scale divisions have changed significantly over time, mainly because of new fossil discoveries and better radiometric dating techniques - and it will no doubt continue to change. The following table is a general listing of the geologic time table based on current interpretations of rocks and fossils.

How are the divisions on the geologic time scale named?

Most of the major divions on the geologic time scale are based on Latin names, or areas in which the rocks were first found. For example, the Carboniferous period gets its name from the Latin words for "carbon-bearing," in reference to the coal-rich rocks found in England; the Jurassic period is named after the Jura Mountains along the border of France and Switzerland.

The names of the stages or ages most often depend on city and regions where the rocks were found; this is why division names frequently vary on geologic time scale charts from different countries.

What are the major time units used in the geologic time scale?

There are five major time units on the geologic time scale. The units are - in order of descending size -:

  1. Eons
  2. Eras
  3. Periods
  4. Epochs
  5. Stages


(Although some list this division as ages and subages.)

The eon represents the longest geologic unit on the scale, an era is a division of time smaller than the eon, and is normally subdivided into two or more periods. An epoch is a subdivision of a period; a stage is a subdivision of an epoch.
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What do the divisions on the geologic time scale represent?

The geologic time scale is not an arbitrary listing of Earth's natural history, nor are the divisions merely fanciful. Each boundary between divisions represents a change or an event that delineates it from the other divisions. In most cases, a boundary is drawn to represent a time when a major catastrophe or evolutionary change in animals or plants (including the evolution of specific species) occurred.

What is absolute time in relationship to geologic time?

Absolute geologic time is the (approximate) true age of the rock; that is, the absolute time that the rock layer formed. Typically, radiometric techniques, which measure the amount of radioactive decay in rocks, are used to determine absolute time.

Why do some dates differ on the various geologic time scale charts?

Determining the true age divisions of the past 4,6 billion years for the geologic time scale is not a perfect science. (Determining the date of a rock layer is not as precise as knowing your own age.) In addition, there is often disagreement as to the extent of certain time periods, since rocks and fossils found on different continents vary. Even radiometric dating does not reveal the true age of a rock or mineral because there is always a certain amount of estimation involved.

Who first developed an absolute geologic time scale using radiometric dating?

In 1911, British geologist Arthur Holmes (1890-1965) began to formulate a geologic time scale based on absolute time, using the uranium-lead dating method to determine the age of rocks.

In 1913, he published The Age of Earth, in which he outlined how radioactive decay methods, in conjunction with geological data, could be used to construct an absolute geologic time scale. In 1927, Holmes estimated that the age of Earth's crust, based on his radiometric techniques, is approximately 3,6 billion years old.

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