The Geological Time Divisions

- The Evolution of Life in the Treshold of our Imagination -

Approximately 490 Million years ago, during the transition of Cambrian into Ordovician, the diversity of our midget invertebrates of TRILOBITA hit its peak. And even the class of this significant index fossils included circa 63 families overall the orders during this peak, only one family of the PROETIDA survived till the Late Permian. Cause one's always stumbling across diverse stratigraphic units, the following stratigraphic tables should convey the visitor a feeling about the dimensions of this periods within the geological eras, indicating an illustration,  scaled as much as possible. According to this, the stratigraphic units were correlated. Basically the chronological levels of time are based upon the global guidelines of the International Comission on Stratigraphy (ICS, state 2003), an institution of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).

The stratigraphic classification is implemented chronostratigraphic. Cause of the serious timing deviations inside the specific periods, the particular Erathems had to be illustrated seperately, to avoid the disappearing of the clarity, using a scaled illustration (as much as possible ;-)).

The Cenozoic

The modern earth

(Source map: © C.R.Scotese, www.scotese.com)

The earth transition Cretaceous/ Paleogene

(Souce map: © C.R.Scotese, www.scotese.com)

Survey Cenozoic

Modern human is dominating lots of spheres  of earth's ecological system. In view of the performed evolution of this system, time will tell if mankind  is to be aware its responsibility on this System.

There are multiple expansions of the ice shields. In Central Europe the glaciations extinguished from Alps glacier, in the Northen from the Baltic Area The following ice ages are to be distinguished (naming based on Alp area):

- Würm ice age (circa 12000.. 10000 years ago));

- Riß ice age (circa 240000.. 180000 years ago);

- Mindel ice age (circa 480000..430000 years ago);

- Günz ice age (circa 640000.. 540000 years ago).

Extinction of many of the big mammalian species like mammoth or gravigrada.

Circa 0,2Mio. years ago the evolution of genus homo (the first representative about 4Mio years ago was the East African Homo rudolfensis) produced modern Homo, the Homo sapiens.

Circa 4Mio. years ago, the first representatives of pre human genus (Hominidae) the Australopithecus anamensis appeared in the East African Region.

Modern mammalia performed the transition from Cretaceous into Paleogene in numbers.

Cenozoic:: Mesozoic:: Palaeozoic:: Precambrian:: Creatonism:: Comment::