the Australasian ecozone Wallacea and Australasia or the Pacific ecozone Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand or from mainland New Guinea Contents hide Etymology Definitions Physiography Biogeography Ecogeography Geopolitics Other definitions History Demographics Archaeogenetics Religion Sport Multi sport games Association football soccer Australian rules football Cricket Rugby league football Rugby union football See also References External links Etymology edit icon This section requires expansion January The term was coined as Océanie circa by geographer Conrad Malte Brun The word Océanie is a French language word derived from Latin word oceanus, and this from Greek word ??ea??? okeanós , ocean Definitions edit See also List of Oceanian countries by population and List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Oceania A map of Oceania from the CIA World Factbook As an ecozone, Oceania includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand New Zealand, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, part of Philippines islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, constitute the separate Australasian ecozone In geopolitical terms, however, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are almost always considered part of Oceania, and Australia and Papua New Guinea are usually considered part of Oceania too The rest are Maluku Islands and Papua, as Puncak Jaya is often considered the highest peak in Oceania Physiography edit Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the Pacific Ocean, stretching from the Strait of Malacca to the coast of the Americas It comprised four regions Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia now called the Malay Archipelago , and Melanesia now called Australasia Today, parts of three geological continents are included in the term Oceania Eurasia, Australia, and Zealandia, as well the non continental volcanic islands of the Philippines, Wallacea, and the open Pacific The area extends to Sumatra in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands in the northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island in the south Not included are the Pacific islands of Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands and the Japanese archipelago, all on the margins of Asia, and the Aleutian Islands of North America The islands at the geographic extremes of Oceania are Bonin, a politically integral part of Japan, Hawaii, a state of the United States, and Easter Island, belonging to Chile There is also a smaller geographic definition that excludes land on the Sunda Plate but includes Indonesian New Guinea on the Australian continent Biogeography edit Aoraki Mount Cook, located on the South Island of New Zealand Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone Wallacea and Australasia or the Pacific ecozone Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia apart either from New Zealand or from mainland New Guinea Ecogeography edit Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand New Zealand,

New Guinea, Melanesia apart from Fiji, and Australia constitute the separate Australasian ecozone The Malay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone Related to these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western Island Melanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania which is more recently settled Geopolitics edit In the geopolitical conception used by the United Nations, International Olympic Committee, and many atlases, Oceania includes Australia and the nations of the Pacific from Papua New Guinea east, but not the Malay Archipelago or Indonesian New Guinea Other definitions edit The term is often used to denote a continent comprising Australia and proximate islands New Zealand forms the south western corner of the Polynesian Triangle Its indigenous Maori constitute one of the major cultures of Polynesia It is also, however, considered part of Australasia The widest definition of Oceania includes the entire region between continental Asia and the Americas, thereby including islands in the Pacific Rim such as the Japanese archipelago, Taiwan, and the Aleutian islands Satellite image of Oceania Ethno cultural definition of Oceania History edit Main articles History of Oceania and History of the Pacific Islands Demographics edit Main article Demographics of Oceania Oceania An orthographic projection of geographic Oceania Wider Geographic Oceania Little of the South Pacific is apparent at this scale, though Hawaii is just visible near the eastern horizon Area , , km , , sq mi Population million Time Zones UTC+ Western Indonesian Time to UTC Easter Island Largest Cities Jakarta Manila Sydney Bandung Melbourne Surabaya Medan Narrower Geographic Oceania Narrower Geographic Oceania Island Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia apart from New Zealand Area , km , sq mi Population million Time Zones UTC+ Palau to UTC Easter Island Largest Cities Honolulu Nouméa Suva Papeete Honiara The demographic table below shows the subregions and countries of geopolitical Oceania The countries and territories in this table are categorized according to the scheme for geographic subregions used by the United Nations The information shown follows sources in cross referenced articles where sources differ, provisos have been clearly indicated These territories and regions are subject to various additional categorisations, of course, depending on the source and purpose of each description Name of region, followed by countries and their flags Area km² Population Population density per km² Capital ISO Australasia Ashmore and Cartier Islands Australia Australia , , , , Canberra AU Christmas Island Australia , Flying Fish Cove CX Cocos Keeling Islands Australia West Island CC Coral Sea Islands Australia New Zealand , , , Wellington NZ Norfolk Island Australia , Kingston NF Melanesia Fiji , , Suva FJ New Caledonia , , Nouméa NC Australasia, a region of Oceania, comprises Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean Charles de Brosses coined the term as French Australasie in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes He derived it from the Latin for south of Asia and differentiated the area from Polynesia to the east and the southeast Pacific Magellanica The bulk of Australasia sits on the Indo Australian Plate, together with India Contents hide Physical geography Human geography Ecological geography See also Notes References External links Physical geography edit This section does not cite any references sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July Physiographically, Australasia includes New Zealand, Australia including Tasmania , and Melanesia New Guinea and neighbouring islands north and east of Australia in the Pacific Ocean The designation is sometimes applied to all the lands and islands of the Pacific Ocean lying between the equator and latitude ° south Most of Australasia lies on the southern portion of the Indo Australian Plate, flanked by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Southern Ocean to the south Peripheral territories lie on the Eurasian Plate to the northwest, the Philippine Plate to the north, and in the Pacific Ocean – including numerous marginal seas – atop the Pacific Plate to the north and east Human geography edit Sundaland also called the Sundaic region is a biogeographical region of Southeastern Asia which encompasses the Sunda shelf, the part of the Asian continental shelf that was exposed during the last ice age The last glacial period, popularly known as the Ice Age, was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately , to , years ago It included the Malay Peninsula on the Asian mainland, as well as the large islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra and their surrounding islands The eastern boundary of Sundaland is the Wallace Line, identified by Alfred Russel Wallace as the eastern boundary of the range of Asia's land mammal fauna, and thus the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones The islands east of the Wallace line are known as Wallacea, and are considered part of Australasia Contents hide History Human migrations Ecology Ecoregions of Sundaland See also Notes and references Further reading Selected faunal references in Borneo External links History edit The South China Sea and adjoining landmasses had been investigated by scientists such as Molengraaff and Umbgrove, who had postulated ancient, now submerged, drainage systems These were mapped by Tjia in and described in greater detail by Emmel and Curray in complete with river deltas, floodplains and backswamps The ecology of the exposed Sunda shelf has been investigated by analyzing cores drilled into the ocean bed The pollens found in the cores have revealed a complex ecosystem that changed over time The flooding of Sundaland separated species that had once shared the same environment such as the river threadfin Polydactylus macrophthalmus, Bleeker , that had once thrived in a river system now called North Sunda River or Molengraaff river The fish is now found in the Kapuas River on the island of Borneo, and in the Musi and Batanghari rivers in Sumatra Human migrations edit According to the most widely accepted theory, the ancestors of the modern day Austronesian populations of the Malay archipelago and adjacent regions are believed to have migrated southward, from the East Asia mainland to Taiwan, and then to the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia An alternate theory points to the now submerged Sundaland as the possible cradle of Asian population thus the Out of Sundaland theory However, this view is an extreme minority view among professional archaeologists, linguists, and geneticists The Out of Taiwan model though not necessarily the Express Train Out of Taiwan model is accepted by the vast majority of professional researchers A study from Leeds University and published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, examining mitochondrial DNA lineages, suggested that humans had been occupying the islands of Southeast Asia for a longer period than previously believed Population dispersals seem to have occurred at the same time as sea levels rose, which may have resulted in migrations from the Philippine Islands to as far north as Taiwan within the last , years The population migrations were most likely to have been driven by climate change — the effects of the drowning of an ancient continent Rising sea levels in three massive pulses may have caused flooding and the submerging of the Sunda continent, creating the Java and South China Seas and the thousands of islands that make up Indonesia and the Philippines today The changing sea levels would have caused these humans to move away from their coastal homes and culture, and farther inland throughout southeast Asia This forced migration would have caused these humans to adapt to the new forest and mountainous environments, developing farms and domestication, and becoming the predecessors to future human populations in these regions A genetic study published by the Human Genome Organization Pan Asian SNP Consortium found that Asia was originally settled by humans via a single southern route The migration came from Africa via India, into Southeast Asia and what are now islands in the Pacific, and then later up to the eastern and northern Asian mainland Genetic similarities were found between populations throughout Asia and an increase in genetic diversity from northern to southern latitudes Although the Chinese population is very large, it has less variation than the smaller number of individuals living in Southeast Asia, because the Chinese expansion occurred very recently, within only the last , to , years, following the perfection of rice agriculture Oppenheimer locates the origin of the Austronesians in Sundaland and its upper regions Genetic research reported in indicates that the islands which are the remnants of Sundaland were likely populated as early as , years ago, contrary to a previous hypothesis {Bellwood and Dizon } that they were populated as late as , years ago from Taiwan dubious – discuss From the standpoint of historical linguistics, the home of the Austronesian languages is the main island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa on this island the deepest divisions in Austronesian are found, among the families of the native Formosan languages Ecology edit The islands of Sundaland rest on an extension of Asia's shallow continental shelf, called the Sunda shelf During the ice ages, sea levels were lower and all of Sundaland was an extension of the Asian continent As a result, the islands of Sundaland are home to many Asian mammals including elephants, monkeys, apes, tigers, tapirs, and rhinoceros The Wallace Line, which includes the Lombok Strait between Bali and Lombok, and the Makassar Strait between Borneo and Sulawesi, marks the end of the Asian continental shelf The islands of Wallacea are separated from Asia and from Australia and New Guinea by deep ocean Botanists often include Sundaland, the adjacent Philippines, Wallacea and New Guinea in a single Floristic province of Malesia, based on similarities in their flora, which is predominantly of Asian origin Ecoregions of Sundaland edit Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Borneo lowland rain forests Borneo The Sunda Arc is a volcanic arc that produced the islands of Sumatra and Java, the Sunda Strait and the Lesser Sunda Islands A chain of volcanoes forms the topographic spine of these islands The Sunda Arc marks an active convergent boundary between the East Eurasian plates that underlie Indonesia, especially the Sunda Plate and the Burma Plate, with the India and Australian Plates that form the seabed of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal The Sunda Arc is a classic example of a volcanic island arc, in which all the elements of such geodynamic features can be identified The India and Australian Plates are subducting beneath the Sunda and Burma plates along the Sunda Arc The tectonic deformation along this subduction zone in the Java Trench also known as the Sunda Trench caused the Indian Ocean earthquake of December , Notable features edit The Sunda Arc is home to some of the world's most dangerous and explosive volcanoes The eruption of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island is thought to be the most massive in recorded history Also this subduction zone has created arguably the world's largest active volcano Lake Toba which produced the largest volcanic eruption in human history erupting just over , km³ of magma, a VEI of The loudest noise in recorded history occurred during the eruption of Krakatoa and was heard , km , mi away Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by these eruptions and by episodes of activity at other volcanoes, including Papandayan, Galunggung, and Kelut volcanic arc is a chain of volcanoes formed above a subducting plate, positioned in an arc shape as seen from above Offshore volcanoes form islands, resulting in a volcanic island arc Generally they result from the subduction of an oceanic tectonic plate under another tectonic plate, and often parallel an oceanic trench The oceanic plate is saturated with water, and volatiles such as water drastically lower the melting point of the mantle As the oceanic plate is subducted, it is subjected to greater and greater pressures with increasing depth This pressure squeezes water out of the plate and introduces it to the mantle Here the mantle melts and forms magma at depth under the overriding plate The magma ascends to form an arc of volcanoes parallel to the subduction zone These should not be confused with hotspot volcanic chains, where volcanoes often form one after another in the middle of a tectonic plate, as the plate moves over the hotspot, and so the volcanoes progress in age from one end of the chain to the other The Hawaiian Islands form a typical hotspot chain the older islands tens of millions of years to the northwest are smaller and more lush than the recently created , years ago Hawaii island itself, which is more rocky Hot spot volcanoes are also known as Intra plate volcanoes and the islands they create are known as Volcanic Ocean Islands Volcanic arcs do not generally exhibit such a simple age pattern There are two types of volcanic arcs oceanic arcs form when oceanic crust subducts beneath other oceanic crust on an adjacent plate, creating a volcanic island arc Not all island arcs are volcanic island arcs continental arcs form when oceanic crust subducts beneath continental crust on an adjacent plate, creating an arc shaped mountain belt Not all mountain belts are formed this way In some situations, a single subduction zone may show both aspects along its length, as part of a plate subducts beneath a continent and part beneath adjacent oceanic crust The term volcanic arc is often confused with the term island arc The former is a series of volcanoes, but not necessarily offshore The latter is a series of islands, not necessarily composed solely of volcanoes Volcanoes are present in almost any mountain belt, but this does not make it a volcanic arc Often there are isolated, but impressively huge volcanoes in a mountain belt For instance, Vesuvius and the Etna volcanoes in Italy are part of separate but different kinds of mountainous volcanic ensembles The active front of a volcanic arc is the belt where volcanism develops at a given time Active fronts may move over time millions of years changing their distance from the oceanic trench as well as their width Contents hide Petrology Examples Continental arcs Island arcs Ancient island arcs See also References Petrology edit In the subduction zone, loss of water from the subducted slab induces partial melting of the overriding mantle and generates low density, calc alkaline magma that buoyantly rises to intrude and be extruded through the lithosphere of the overriding plate This loss of water is due to the destabilization of the mineral chlorite at approximately – km depth This is the reason for island arc volcanism at consistent distances from the subducting slab because the temperature pressure conditions for flux melting volcanism due to chlorite destabilization will always occur at the same depth, the distance from the trench to the arc volcanoes is determined only by the dip angle of the subducting slab On the subducting side of the island arc is a deep and narrow oceanic trench, which is the trace at the Earth’s surface of the boundary between the downgoing and overriding plates This trench is created by the gravitational pull of the relatively dense subducting plate pulling the leading edge of the plate downward Multiple earthquakes occur along this subduction boundary with the seismic hypocenters located at increasing depth under the island arc these quakes define the Wadati Benioff zones The volcanic arc forms when the subducting plate reaches a depth of about km Ocean basins that are being reduced by subduction are called 'remnant oceans' as they will slowly be shrunken out of existence and crushed in the subsequent orogenic collision This process has happened over and over in the geologic history of the Earth In the rock record, volcanic arcs can be seen as the volcanic rocks themselves, but because volcanic rock is easily weathered and eroded, it is more typical that they are seen as plutonic rocks, the rocks that formed underneath the arc e g the Sierra Nevada batholith , or in the sedimentary record as lithic sandstones Cascade Volcanic Arc, a continental volcanic arc The Aleutian Arc, with both oceanic and continental parts Examples edit Two classic examples of oceanic island arcs are the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean and the Lesser Antilles in the western Atlantic Ocean The Cascade Volcanic Arc in western North America and the Andes along the western edge of South America are examples of continental volcanic arcs The best examples of volcanic arcs with both sets of characteristics are in the North Pacific, with the Aleutian Arc consisting of the Aleutian Islands and their extension the Aleutian Range on the Alaska Peninsula, and the Kuril Kamchatka Arc comprising the Kuril Islands and southern Kamchatka Peninsula Continental arcs edit Cascade Volcanic Arc Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Range Kamchatka Andes North Volcanic Zone Central Volcanic Zone South Volcanic Zone Austral Volcanic Zone Central America Volcanic Arc Island arcs edit Aleutian Islands Kuril Islands Northeastern Japan arc Japanese Archipelago including the Ryukyu Islands Izu Bonin Mariana Arc Izu Islands The Cenozoic Era s?n?'zo??k or ?si?n?'zo??k also Cænozoic, Caenozoic or Cainozoic ka?no?'zo??k or ke?no?'zo??k meaning new life , from Greek ?a???? kainos new , and ??? zoe life is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras, following the Mesozoic Era and covering the period from million years ago to present day The Cenozoic is also known as the Age of Mammals, because the extinction of many groups allowed mammals to greatly diversify Early in the Cenozoic, following the K Pg event, the planet was dominated by relatively small fauna, including small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians From a geological perspective, it did not take long for mammals and birds to greatly diversify in the absence of the large reptiles that had dominated during the Mesozoic Some flightless birds grew larger than the average human These species are sometimes referred to as terror birds, and were formidable predators Mammals came to occupy almost every available niche both marine and terrestrial , and some also grew very large, attaining sizes not seen in most of today's terrestrial mammals Climate wise, the Earth had begun a drying and cooling trend, culminating in the glaciations of the Pleistocene Epoch, and partially offset by the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum The continents also began looking roughly familiar at this time and moved into their current positions Contents hide Subdivisions Paleogene Neogene Quaternary Tectonics Climate Life See also References Bibliography External links Subdivisions edit The Cenozoic is divided into three periods The Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary and seven epochs The Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene The Quaternary Period was officially recognized by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June , and the former Tertiary Period was officially disused in because of the necessity to divide the Cenozoic into periods more like that of the previous Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras why The common use of epochs during the Cenozoic helps paleontologists better organize and group the many significant events that occurred during this comparatively short interval of time There is also more detailed knowledge of this era than any other because of the relatively young strata associated with it Paleogene edit The Paleogene spans from the extinction of the dinosaurs, some million years ago, to the dawn of the Neogene twenty three million years ago It features three epochs the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene Basilosaurus The Paleocene ranged from million to million years ago The Paleocene is a transitional point between the devastation that is the K T extinction, to the rich jungles environment that is the Early Eocene The Early Paleocene saw the recovery of the earth The continents began to take their modern shape, but all continents and India were separated from each other Afro Eurasia was separated by the Tethys Sea, and the Americas were separated by the strait of Panama, as the isthmus has not yet formed This epoch featured a general warming trend, with jungles eventually reaching the poles The oceans were dominated by sharks as the large reptiles that had once ruled went extinct Archaic mammals filled the world such as creodonts and early primates that evolved during the Mesozoic, and as a result, there was nothing over kilograms Mammals were still quite small The Eocene Epoch ranged from million years to million years ago In the Early Eocene, life was small and lived in cramped jungles, much like the Paleocene There was nothing over the weight of kilograms Among them were early primates, whales and horses along with many other early forms of mammals At the top of the food chains were huge birds, such as Gastornis It is the only time in recorded history that birds ruled the world excluding their ancestors, the dinosaurs The temperature was degrees Celsius with little temperature gradient from pole to pole In the Mid Eocene, the circum Antarctic current between Australia and Antarctica formed which disrupted ocean currents worldwide and as a result caused a global cooling effect, shrinking the jungles This allowed mammals to grow to mammoth proportions, such as whales which, by that time, were almost fully aquatic Mammals like Andrewsarchus were at the top of the food chain and sharks were replaced by whales such as Basilosaurus as rulers of the seas The Late Eocene saw the rebirth of seasons, which caused the expansion of savanna like areas, along with the evolution of grass The Oligocene Epoch spans from million to million years ago The Oligocene featured the expansion of grass which had led to many new species to evolve, including the first elephants, cats, dogs, marsupials and many other species still prevalent today Many other species of plants evolved in this period too, such as the evergreen trees A cooling period was still in effect and seasonal rains were as well Mammals still continued to grow larger and larger Paraceratherium, the largest land mammal to ever live evolved during this period, along with many perissodactyls in an event known as the Grande Coupure Neogene edit Animals of the Miocene Chalicotherium, Hyenadon, Entelodont Mammals are the dominant terrestrial vertebrates of the Cenozoic The Neogene spans from million to million years ago, and is the shortest geological period in the Phanerozoic Eon It features epochs the Miocene, and the Pliocene The Miocene spans from to million years ago and is a period in which grass spread further across, effectively dominating a large portion of the world, diminishing forests in the process Kelp forests evolved, leading to new species such as sea otters to evolve During this time, perissodactyls thrived, and evolved into many different varieties Alongside them were the apes, which evolved into a staggering species Overall, arid and mountainous land dominated most of the world, as did grazers The Tethys Sea finally closed with the creation of the Arabian Peninsula and in its wake left the Black, Red, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas This only increased aridity Many new plants evolved, and % of modern seed plants evolved in the mid Miocene The Pliocene lasted from to million years ago The Pliocene featured dramatic climactic changes, which ultimately lead to modern species and plants The Mediterranean Sea dried up for several million years Along with these major geological events, Australopithecus evolved in Africa, beginning the human branch The isthmus of Panama formed, and animals migrated between North and South America, wreaking havoc on the local ecology Climatic changes brought savannas that are still continuing to spread across the world, Indian monsoons, deserts in East Asia, and the beginnings of the Sahara desert The earth's continents and seas moved into their present shapes The world map has not changed much since Quaternary edit The Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era ?pæli?'zo??k or ?pe?li?'zo??k from the Greek palaios pa?a??? , old and zoe ??? , life , meaning ancient life is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon, spanning from to million years ago It is the longest of the Phanerozoic eras, and is subdivided into six geologic periods from oldest to youngest the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian The Paleozoic comes after the Neoproterozoic Era of the Proterozoic Eon, and is followed by the Mesozoic Era The Paleozoic was a time of dramatic geological, climatic, and evolutionary change The Cambrian Period witnessed the most rapid and widespread diversification of life in Earth's history, known as the Cambrian explosion, in which most modern phyla first appeared Fish, arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, and synapsids all evolved during the Paleozoic Life began in the ocean but eventually transitioned onto land, and by the late Paleozoic, it was dominated by various forms of organisms Great forests of primitive plants covered the continents, many of which formed the coal beds of Europe and eastern North America Towards the end of the era, large, sophisticated reptiles were dominant and the first modern plants conifers appeared The Paleozoic Era ended with the largest mass extinction in Earth's history, the Permian–Triassic extinction event The effects of this catastrophe were so devastating that it took life on land million years into the Mesozoic to recover Recovery of life in the sea may have been much faster Contents hide Geology Periods of the Paleozoic Cambrian Ordovician Silurian Devonian Carboniferous Permian Tectonic activity Climate Flora Fauna See also References and further reading External links Geology edit This section does not cite any references sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May In North America, the era began with deep sedimentary basins along the eastern, southeastern, and western sides of the continent, while the interior was dry land As the era proceeded, the marginal seas periodically washed over the stable interior, leaving sedimentary deposits to mark their incursions During the early part of the era, the area of exposed Precambrian, or shield, rocks in central Canada were eroding, supplying sediment to the basins from the interior Beginning in the Ordovician Period, mountain building intermittently proceeded in the eastern part of the Appalachian region throughout the rest of the era, bringing in new sediments Sediments washing from the Acadian Mountains filled the western part of the Appalachian basins to form the famous coal swamps of the Carboniferous Period In North America, carboniferous is not generally used Instead, the time is divided between Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods because of differences in the sedimentary rock deposited during that time The Mississippian is characterized by limey sediments deposited in shallow seas, typically with abundant crinoidal fossils as in the Burlington Formation The Pennsylvanian typically is characterized by terrestrial sediments such as sands, shale and most importantly coal Most of our oil and gas are obtained from Pennsylvanian sediments Where this has been stripped, as in the Ozark domal region, oil is not typically available Paleoclimatic studies and evidence of glaciers indicate that central Africa was most likely in the polar regions during the early Paleozoic During the early Paleozoic, the huge continent Gondwanaland had either formed or was forming By mid Paleozoic, the collision of North America and Europe produced the Acadian Caledonian uplifts, and a subduction plate uplifted eastern Australia By the late Paleozoic, continental collisions formed the supercontinent Pangaea and resulted in some of the great mountain chains, including the Appalachians, Urals, and mountains of Tasmania Periods of the Paleozoic edit There are six periods in the Paleozoic era the Cambrian, the Ordovician, the Silurian, the Devonian, the Carboniferous and the Permian Cambrian edit Trilobites The Cambrian spans from million years to million years ago and is the first period of the Paleozoic and of the Phanerozoic Eon The Cambrian sparks a boom in evolution in an event known as the Cambrian Explosion in which the largest number of creatures evolve in the history of Earth during one period Creatures like algae evolve, but most of the water is populated by armored arthropods, like trilobites Almost all marine phyla evolved in this period During this time, the super continent Rodinia begins to break up, most of which becomes the super continent Gondwana Ordovician edit Cephalaspis a jawless fish The Ordovician spans from million years to million years ago The Ordovician is a time in Earth's history in which many species still prevalent today evolved, such as primitive fish, cephalopods, and coral The most common forms of life, however, were trilobites, snails and shellfish More importantly, the first arthropods went ashore to colonize the empty continent of Gondwana By the end of the period, Gondwana was at the south pole, early North America had collided with Europe, closing the Atlantic Ocean Glaciation of Africa resulted in a major drop in sea level, killing off all life that staked a claim along coastal Gondwana Glaciation caused a snowball earth, and the Ordovician Silurian extinction in which % of marine invertebrates and % of families went extinct, and is considered the first mass extinction and the second deadliest extinction Silurian edit The Silurian spans from million years to million years ago The Silurian saw the healing of the earth that recovered from the snowball earth This period saw the mass evolution of fish, as jaw less fish became more numerous, jawed fish evolved, and the first freshwater fish evolved, though arthropods, such as sea scorpions, were still apex predators Fully terrestrial life evolved, which included early arachnids, fungi, and centipedes Also, the evolution of vascular plants Cooksonia allowed plants to gain a foothold on land These early plants are the forerunners of all plant life on land During this time, there are four continents Gondwana Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, Siberia , Laurentia North America , Baltica Northern Europe , and Avalonia Western Europe The recent rise in sea levels provided many new species to thrive in water Devonian edit Eogyrinus an amphibian of the Carboniferous The Devonian spans from million years to million years ago Also known as The Age of the Fish , the Devonian features a huge diversification of fish, including armored fish like Dunkleosteus and lobe finned fish which eventually evolved into the first tetrapods On land, plant groups diversified incredibly in an event known as the Devonian Explosion where the first trees evolved, as well as seeds This event also diversified arthropod life The first amphibians also evolved, and the fish were now at the top of the food chain Near the end of the Devonian, % of all species went extinct in an event known as the Late Devonian extinction and is the second mass extinction event the world has seen Carboniferous edit Dimetrodon The Carboniferous spans from million to million years ago During this time, average global temperatures were exceedingly high the early Carboniferous averaged at about degrees Celsius but cooled down to degrees during the Middle Carboniferous Tropical swamps dominated the earth, and the large amounts of trees created much of the carbon for the coal that is used today hence the name Carbon iferous Perhaps the most important evolutionary development of the time was the evolution of amniotic eggs, which allowed amphibians to head farther inland and remained the dominant vertebrae throughout the duration of this period Also, the first reptiles and synapsids evolved in the swamps Throughout the Carboniferous, there was a cooling pattern, which eventually led to the glaciation of Gondwana as much of it was situated around the south pole in an event known as the Permo Carboniferous glaciation or the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse Permian edit The Precambrian or Pre Cambrian sometimes abbreviated p? is the largest span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale It spans from the formation of Earth about billion years ago Ga to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, about ± million years ago Ma , when hard shelled creatures first appeared in abundance The Precambrian is so named because it precedes the Cambrian, the first period of the Phanerozoic Eon, which is named after Cambria, the classical name for Wales, where rocks from this age were first studied The Precambrian accounts for % of geologic time citation needed Contents hide Overview Life forms Planetary environment and the oxygen catastrophe Subdivisions Precambrian super continents See also References Further reading External links Overview edit Relatively little is known about the Precambrian, despite it making up roughly seven eighths of the Earth's history, and what is known has largely been discovered from the s onwards The Precambrian fossil record is poorer than that of the succeeding Phanerozoic, and those fossils present e g stromatolites are of limited biostratigraphic use This is because many Precambrian rocks have been heavily metamorphosed, obscuring their origins, while others have been destroyed by erosion, or remain deeply buried beneath Phanerozoic strata It is thought that the Earth itself coalesced from material in orbit around the Sun roughly Ma, or billion years ago Ga , and may have been struck by a very large Mars sized planetesimal shortly after it formed, splitting off material that formed the Moon see Giant impact hypothesis A stable crust was apparently in place by Ma, since zircon crystals from Western Australia have been dated at Ma The term Precambrian is recognized by the International Commission on Stratigraphy as a general term including the Archean and Proterozoic eons It is still used by geologists and paleontologists for general discussions not requiring the more specific eon names It was briefly also called the Cryptozoic eon Life forms edit For more details on this topic, see Origin of life It is not known when life originated, but carbon in billion year old rocks from islands off western Greenland may be of organic origin Well preserved bacteria older than billion years have been found in Western Australia Probable fossils million years older have been found in the same area There is a fairly solid record of bacterial life throughout the remainder of the Precambrian Excluding a few contested reports of much older forms from USA and India, the first complex multicellular life forms seem to have appeared roughly Ma The oldest fossil evidence of complex life comes from the Lantian formation, at least million years ago A quite diverse collection of soft bodied forms is known from a variety of locations worldwide between and Ma These are referred to as Ediacaran or Vendian biota Hard shelled creatures appeared toward the end of that time span By the middle of the later Cambrian period a very diverse fauna is recorded in the Burgess Shale, including some which may represent stem groups of modern taxa The rapid radiation of lifeforms during the early Cambrian is called the Cambrian explosion of life While land seems to have been devoid of plants and animals, cyanobacteria and other microbes formed prokaryotic mats that covered terrestrial areas Planetary environment and the oxygen catastrophe edit This section does not cite any references sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed June Weathered Precambrian pillow lava in the Temagami Greenstone Belt of the Canadian Shield Evidence illuminating the details of plate motions and other tectonic functions in the Precambrian has been poorly preserved It is generally believed that small proto continents existed prior to Ma, and that most of the Earth's landmasses collected into a single supercontinent around Ma The supercontinent, known as Rodinia, broke up around Ma A number of glacial periods have been identified going as far back as the Huronian epoch, roughly Ma One of the most delved into is the Sturtian Varangian glaciation, around Ma, which may have brought glacial conditions all the way to the equator, resulting in a Snowball Earth The atmosphere of the early Earth is not well understood Most geologists believe it was composed primarily of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and other relatively inert gases, lacking in free oxygen This has been disputed with evidence in support of an oxygen rich atmosphere since the early Archean Molecular oxygen was not present as a significant fraction of Earth's atmosphere until after photosynthetic life forms evolved and began to produce it in large quantities as a byproduct of their metabolism This radical shift from an inert to an oxidizing atmosphere caused an ecological crisis sometimes called the oxygen catastrophe At first, oxygen would quickly combine with other elements in Earth's crust, primarily iron, as it was produced After the supply of oxidizable surfaces ran out, oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere, and the modern high oxygen atmosphere developed Evidence for this lies in older rocks that contain massive banded iron formations, laid down as iron and oxygen first combined Subdivisions edit Main article Timetable of the Precambrian An established terminology has evolved covering the early years of the Earth's existence, as radiometric dating allows plausible real dates to be assigned to specific formations and features The Precambrian Supereon is divided into three eons the Hadean Ma , Archean Ma and Proterozoic ± Ma See Timetable of the Precambrian Proterozoic this eon refers to the time from the lower Cambrian boundary, ± Ma, back through Ma As originally used, it was a synonym for Precambrian and hence included everything prior to the Cambrian boundary The Proterozoic eon is divided into three eras the Neoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic Neoproterozoic The youngest geologic era of the Proterozoic Eon, from the Cambrian Period lower boundary ± Ma back to Ma The Neoproterozoic corresponds to Precambrian Z rocks of older North American geology Ediacaran The youngest geologic period within the Neoproterozoic Era The Geologic Time Scale dates it from ± to ~ Ma In this period the Ediacaran fauna appeared Cryogenian The middle period in the Neoproterozoic Era ~ Ma Tonian the earliest period of the Neoproterozoic Era Ma Mesoproterozoic the middle era of the Proterozoic Eon, Ma Corresponds to Precambrian Y rocks of older North American geology Paleoproterozoic oldest era of the Proterozoic Eon, Ma Corresponds to Precambrian X rocks of older North American geology Archean Eon Ma Hadean Eon Ma This term was intended originally to cover the time before any preserved rocks were deposited, although some zircon crystals from about Ma demonstrate the existence of crust in the Hadean Eon Other records from Hadean time come from the moon and meteorites It has been proposed that the Precambrian should be divided into eons and eras that reflect stages of planetary evolution, rather than the current scheme based upon numerical ages Such a system could rely on events in the stratigraphic record and be demarcated by GSSPs The Precambrian could be divided into five natural eons, characterized as follows Accretion and differentiation a period of planetary formation until giant Moon forming impact event Hadean dominated by heavy bombardment from about Ga possibly including a Cool Early Earth period to the end of the Late Heavy Bombardment period Archean a period defined by the first crustal formations the Isua greenstone belt until the deposition of banded iron formations due to increasing atmospheric oxygen content Transition a period of continued iron banded formation until the first continental red beds Proterozoic a period of modern plate tectonics until the first animals Precambrian super continents edit The movement of plates has caused the formation and break up of continents over time, including occasional formation of a super continent containing most or all of the continents The earliest known super continent was Vaalbara It formed from proto continents and was a super continent by billion years ago Ga Vaalbara broke up ~ Ga ago The super continent Kenorland was formed ~ Ga ago and then broke sometime after Ga into the proto continent cratons called Laurentia, Baltica, Australia, and Kalahari The super continent Columbia or Nuna formed during a period of – billion years and broke up about – billion years ago The super continent Rodinia is thought to have formed about billion years ago, to have embodied most or all of Earth's continents and to have broken up into eight continents around million years ago The Permian spans from million to million years ago and was the last period of the Paleozoic At the beginning, all continents joined together to form the super continent Pangaea which was encircled by one ocean called Panthalassa The earth was very dry during this time, with harsh seasons as the climate of the interior of Pangaea wasn't regulated by large bodies of water Reptiles and synapsids flourished in the new dry climate Creatures such as Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus ruled the new continent The first conifers evolve, and dominate the terrestrial landscape Nearing the end of the Permian, however, Pangaea got drier and drier The interior was nothing but dry deserts, and new species such as Scutosaurus and Gorgonopsids filled the empty desert Eventually, they disappeared, along with % of all life on Earth, in a cataclysm known as The Great Dying , the third and most severe mass extinction in world history The Phanerozoic ?fæn?r?'zo??k British English Phanærozoic is the current geologic eon in the geologic time scale, and the one during which abundant animal and plant life has existed It covers ± million years and goes back to the period when diverse hard shelled animals first appeared Its name derives from the Ancient Greek words fa?e??? fanerós and ??? zo_í_ , meaning visible life, since it was once believed that life began in the Cambrian, the first period of this eon The time before the Phanerozoic, called the Precambrian supereon, is now divided into the Hadean, Archaean and Proterozoic eons Plant life also appeared from early in the Phanerozoic eon The time span of the Phanerozoic includes the rapid emergence of a number of animal phyla the evolution of these phyla into diverse forms the emergence and development of complex plants the evolution of fish the emergence of insects and tetrapods and the development of modern faunas During this time span tectonic forces caused the continents to move and eventually collect into a single landmass known as Pangaea, which then separated into the current continental landmasses Contents hide Proterozoic Phanerozoic boundary Eras of the Phanerozoic Paleozoic era Cambrian Ordovician Silurian Devonian Carboniferous Permian Mesozoic era Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous Cenozoic era Paleogene Neogene Quaternary Biodiversity See also Notes References External links Proterozoic Phanerozoic boundary edit The Proterozoic Phanerozoic boundary is at ± million years ago In the th century, the boundary was set at time of appearance of the first abundant animal metazoan fossils But several hundred groups taxa of metazoa of the earlier Proterozoic era have been identified since systematic study of those forms started in the s Most geologists and paleontologists would probably set the Proterozoic Phanerozoic boundary either at the classic point where the first trilobites and reef building animals archaeocyatha such as corals and others appear at the first appearance of a complex feeding burrow called Treptichnus pedum or at the first appearance of a group of small, generally disarticulated, armored forms termed 'the small shelly fauna' The three different dividing points are within a few million years of each other In the older literature, the term Phanerozoic is generally used as


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danielle danielle-foxxx danielle-rodgers danny-ricci danyel-cheeks daphne daphne-rosen darby-lloyd-rains darla-crane darla-delovely davia-ardell dayton-rain debbie-northrup debbie-revenge debbie-van-gils debi-diamond debi-jointed debra-lynn deidra-hopkins deidre-holland delania-raffino delia-moore delphine-thail delta-force delta-white demi-moor denice-klarskov denise-derringer denise-dior denise-sloan desiree-cousteau desiree-foxx desiree-lane desiree-west deva-station devin-devasquez devinn-lane devon-shire dia diana-holt diana-kisabonyi diana-siefert diana-stevenson diane-dubois diane-richards diane-sloan diane-suresne dido-angel dillan-lauren dina-deville dina-jewel dina-pearl ditty-blue diva divinity-love djiana dolly-darkley dominique dominique-dewitt dominique-saint-claire donna-hart donna-marie dorle-buchner dorothy-lemay dorothy-onan drea drimla dru-berrymore dusty-rose dyanna-lauren ebony-ayes edina-blond edita-ungerova edwige-faillel eileen-wells elaine-southern elena-berkova elena-maria-ricci eleonore-melzer elisabeth-bure elis-black elise elise-di-medici elle-devyne elle-rio elodie-delage elsa-maroussia elza-brown emili-doll emily-evermoore emily-george emily-jewel emmanuelle-pareze envy-mi erica-boyer erica-eaton erica-havens erica-idol erica-lauren erika-bella erika-cool erika-heaven erika-lockett esme-monroe eva-allen eva-angel eva-dionisio eva-gross eva-kleber eva-lux eva-uettori eve-laurence evelyne-lang evie-delatosso fabiana-venturi faith-stevens fallon fanny-garreau fanny-steel faye-runaway flame flick-shagwell flore-soller flower france-lomay france-quenie francoise frankie-leigh gabriella gabriella-mirelba gabriella-vincze gail-force gail-palmer gail-sterling georgette-saunders georgia-peach georgina-spelvin gia-givanna gianna-lynn gili-sky gina-carrera gina-gianetti gina-janssen gina-lee gina-martell gina-valentino ginger-jay ginger-lee ginger-lynn ginny-noack giovanna gisela-schwarz giselle-monet gladys-laroche gloria-leonard 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kapri-styles kara-nox karen-summer kari-foxx karine-gambier karin-schubert karli-sweet karmen-kennedy karol-castro kascha kassi-nova kat kate-frost kate-jones kathia-nobili kathleen-gentry kathleen-white kathy-divan kathy-harcourt kathy-heart kathy-kash katie-cummings katja-love kat-langer katrina-isis katrina-kraven katy-borman katy-caro kaycee-dean kayla-kupcakes kay-parker k-c-valentine keama-kim keira-moon keisha keli-richards kelli-tyler kelly-adams kelly-blue kelly-broox kelly-hearn kelly-kay kelly-kline kelly-nichols kelly-royce kelly-skyline kendra-kay kenzi-marie keri-windsor ketthy-divan kianna-dior kiley-heart kim-alexis kimber-blake kimberly-carson kimberly-kane kimberly-kyle kim-de-place kim-holland kimi-gee kimkim-de kim-kitaine kimmie-lee kimmy-nipples kina-kara kira-eggers kira-red kirsty-waay kitty-langdon kitty-lynxxx kitty-marie kitty-shayne kitty-yung kora-cummings kris-lara krista-lane krista-maze kristara-barrington kristarah-knight kristi-klenot kristina-blonde 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moxxie-maddron mulani-rivera mysti-may nadege-arnaud nadia-styles nadine-bronx nadine-proutnal nadine-roussial nadi-phuket nanci-suiter nancy-hoffman nancy-vee natacha-delyro natalia-wood natalli-diangelo natascha-throat natasha-skyler naudia-nyce nessa-devil nessy-grant nesty nicki-hunter nicky-reed nicole-berg nicole-bernard nicole-black nicole-grey nicole-london nicole-parks nicole-scott nicole-taylor nicolette-fauludi nicole-west nika-blond nika-mamic niki-cole nikita-love nikita-rush nikki-charm nikki-grand nikki-king nikki-knight nikki-randall nikki-rhodes nikki-santana nikki-steele nikki-wilde niko nina-cherry nina-deponca nina-hartley nina-preta oana-efria obaya-roberts olesja-derevko olga-cabaeva olga-conti olga-pechova olga-petrova olivia-alize olivia-del-rio olivia-flores olivia-la-roche olivia-outre ophelia-tozzi orchidea-keresztes orsolya-blonde paige-turner paisley-hunter pamela-bocchi pamela-jennings pamela-mann pamela-stanford pamela-stealt pandora paola-albini pascale-vital pat-manning pat-rhea patricia-dale patricia-diamond patricia-kennedy patricia-rhomberg patrizia-predan patti-cakes patti-petite paula-brasile paula-harlow paula-morton paula-price paula-winters pauline-teutscher penelope-pumpkins penelope-valentin petra-hermanova petra-lamas peyton-lafferty phaedra-grant pia-snow piper-fawn pipi-anderson porsche-lynn porsha-carrera precious-silver priscillia-lenn purple-passion queeny-love rachel-ashley rachel-love rachel-luv rachel-roxxx rachel-ryan rachel-ryder racquel-darrian rane-revere raven reagan-maddux rebecca-bardoux regan-anthony regine-bardot regula-mertens reina-leone reka-gabor renae-cruz renee-foxx renee-lovins renee-morgan renee-perez renee-summers renee-tiffany rhonda-jo-petty rikki-blake riley-ray rio-mariah rita-ricardo roberta-gemma roberta-pedon robin-byrd robin-cannes robin-everett robin-sane rochell-starr rosa-lee-kimball rosemarie roxanne-blaze roxanne-hall roxanne-rollan ruby-richards sabina-k sabre sabrina-chimaera sabrina-dawn sabrina-jade sabrina-johnson sabrina-love-cox sabrina-mastrolorenzi sabrina-rose sabrina-scott sabrina-summers sacha-davril sahara sahara-sands sai-tai-tiger samantha-fox samantha-ryan samantha-sterlyng samantha-strong samueline-de-la-rosa sandra-cardinale sandra-de-marco sandra-kalermen sandra-russo sandy-lee sandy-pinney sandy-reed sandy-samuel sandy-style sandy-summers sara-brandy-canyon sara-faye sarah-bernard sarah-cabrera sarah-hevyn sarah-mills sarah-shine sara-sloane sasha sasha-hollander sasha-ligaya sasha-rose satine-phoenix satin-summer savannah-stern savanna-jane scarlet-scarleau scarlet-windsor seka selena serena serena-south severine-amoux shana-evans shanna-mccullough shannon-kelly shannon-rush shantell-day sharon-da-vale sharon-kane sharon-mitchell shaun-michelle shawna-sexton shawnee-cates shay-hendrix shayne-ryder sheena-horne sheer-delight shelby-star shelby-stevens shelly-berlin shelly-lyons sheri-st-clair sheyla-cats shonna-lynn shyla-foxxx shy-love sierra-sinn sierra-skye sigrun-theil silver-starr silvia-bella silvia-saint silvie-de-lux silvy-taylor simone-west sindee-coxx sindy-lange sindy-shy siobhan-hunter skylar-knight skylar-price skyler-dupree smokie-flame smoking-mary-jane solange-shannon sonya-summers sophia-santi sophie-call sophie-duflot sophie-evans sophie-guers stacey-donovan stacy-lords stacy-moran stacy-nichols stacy-silver stacy-thorn starla-fox starr-wood stefania-bruni stella-virgin stephanie-duvalle stephanie-rage stephanie-renee stevie-taylor summer-knight summer-rose sunny-day sunset-thomas sunshine-seiber susan-hart susanne-brend susan-nero susi-hotkiss suzanne-mcbain suzan-nielsen suzie-bartlett suzie-carina suzi-sparks sweet-nice sweety-pie sybille-rossani sylvia-benedict sylvia-bourdon sylvia-brand sylvia-engelmann syreeta-taylor syren-de-mer syvette szabina-black szilvia-lauren tai-ellis taija-rae taisa-banx talia-james tamara-lee tamara-longley tamara-n-joy tamara-west tami-white tammy tammy-lee tammy-reynolds tania-lorenzo tantala-ray tanya-danielle tanya-fox tanya-foxx tanya-lawson tanya-valis tara-aire tasha-voux tatjana-belousova tatjana-skomorokhova tawnee-lee tawny-pearl tayla-rox taylor-wane teddi-austin teddi-barrett tera-bond tera-heart tera-joy teresa-may teresa-orlowski teri-diver teri-weigel terri-dolan terri-hall tess-ferre tess-newheart thais-vieira tia-cherry tianna tiara tiffany-blake tiffany-clark tiffany-duponte tiffany-rayne tiffany-rousso tiffany-storm tiffany-towers tiffany-tyler tiger-lily tigr timea-vagvoelgyi tina-blair tina-burner tina-evil tina-gabriel tina-loren tina-marie tina-russell tish-ambrose tommi-rose tonisha-mills topsy-curvey tori-secrets tori-sinclair tori-welles tracey-adams traci-lords traci-topps traci-winn tracy-duzit tracy-love tracy-williams tricia-devereaux tricia-yen trinity-loren trisha-rey trista-post trixie-tyler ultramax ursula-gaussmann ursula-moore uschi-karnat valentina valerie-leveau valery-hilton vanessa-chase vanessa-del-rio vanessa-michaels vanessa-ozdanic vanilla-deville velvet-summers veri-knotty veronica-dol veronica-hart veronica-hill veronica-rayne veronica-sage veronika-vanoza via-paxton vicky-lindsay vicky-vicci victoria-evans victoria-gold victoria-knight victoria-luna victoria-paris victoria-slick victoria-zdrok viper virginie-caprice vivian-valentine vivien-martines wendi-white wendy-divine whitney-banks whitney-fears whitney-wonders wonder-tracey wow-nikki xanthia-berstein yasmine-fitzgerald yelena-shieffer yvonne-green zara-whites zsanett-egerhazi zuzie-boobies

a label for the time period of interest to paleontologists, but that use of the term seems to be falling into disuse in more modern literature Eras of the Phanerozoic edit The Phanerozoic is divided into three eras the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic, and consisting of periods the Cambrian, the Ordovician, the Silurian, the Devonian, the Carboniferous, the Permian, the Triassic, the Jurassic, the Cretaceous, the Paleogene, the Neogene, and the Quaternary The Paleozoic features the rise of fish, amphibians and reptiles The Mesozoic is ruled by the reptiles, and features the evolution of mammals, birds and more famously, dinosaurs The Cenozoic is the time of the mammals, and more recently, humans Paleozoic era edit Main article Paleozoic The Paleozoic is a time in earth's history when complex life forms evolve, take their first breath of oxygen on dry land, and when the forerunners of all life on earth begin to diversify There are six periods in the Paleozoic era the Cambrian, the Ordovician, the Silurian, the Devonian, the Carboniferous and the Permian Cambrian edit Main article Cambrian Trilobites The Cambrian spans from million years to million years ago and is the first period of the Paleozoic and of the Phanerozoic eon The Cambrian sparks a boom in evolution in an event known as the Cambrian Explosion in which the largest number of creatures evolve in the history of Earth during one period Plants like algae evolve, the fauna is dominated by armored arthropods, like trilobites Almost all marine phyla evolved in this period During this time, the super continent Pannotia begins to break up, most of which becomes the super continent Gondwana Ordovician edit Main article Ordovician Cephalaspis a jaw less fish The Ordovician spans from million years to million years ago The Ordovician is a time in Earth's history in which many species still prevalent today evolved, such as primitive fish, cephalopods, and coral The most common forms of life, however, were trilobites, snails and shellfish More importantly, the first arthropods went ashore to colonize the empty continent of Gondwana By the end of the period, Gondwana was at the south pole, early North America had collided with Europe, closing the Atlantic Ocean Glaciation of Africa resulted in a major drop in sea level, killing off all life that staked a claim along coastal Gondwana Glaciation caused a snowball Earth, leading to the Ordovician Silurian extinction, when % of marine invertebrates and % of families went extinct This is considered the first mass extinction and the second deadliest extinction in the history of Earth Silurian edit Main article Silurian The Silurian spans from million years to million years ago The Silurian saw the healing of the earth that recovered from the Snowball Earth This period saw the mass evolution of fish, as jaw less fish became more numerous, jawed fish evolved, and the first freshwater fish evolved, though arthropods, such as sea scorpions, were still apex predators Fully terrestrial life evolved, which included early arachnids, fungi, and centipedes Also, the evolution of vascular plants Cooksonia allowed plants to gain a foothold on land These early terrestrial plants are the forerunners of all plant life on land During this time, there are four continents Gondwana Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, India , Laurentia North America with parts of Europe , Baltica the rest of Europe , and Siberia Northern Asia The recent rise in sea levels provided many new species to thrive in water Devonian edit Main article Devonian Eogyrinus an amphibian of the Carboniferous The Devonian spans from million years to million years ago Also known as The Age of the Fish , the Devonian features a huge diversification in fish, including armored fish like Dunkleosteus and lobe finned fish which eventually evolved into the first tetrapods On land, plant groups diversified incredibly in an event known as the Devonian Explosion where the first trees evolved, as well as seeds This event also diversified arthropod life The first amphibians also evolved, and the fish were now at the top of the food chain Near the end of the Devonian, % of all species went extinct in an event known as the Late Devonian extinction, which is the second mass extinction known to have happened Carboniferous edit Main article Carboniferous Dimetrodon The Carboniferous spans from million to million years ago During this time, average global temperatures were exceedingly high the early Carboniferous averaged at about degrees Celsius but cooled down to degrees during the Middle Carboniferous Tropical swamps dominated the earth, and the large amounts of trees created much of the carbon for the coal that is used today hence the name Carbon iferous Perhaps the most important evolutionary development of the time was the evolution of amniotic eggs, which allowed amphibians to head farther inland and remain the dominant vertebrae throughout the period Also, the first reptiles and synapsids evolved in the swamps Throughout the Carboniferous, there was a cooling pattern, which eventually led to the glaciation of Gondwana as much of it was situated around the south pole, in an event known as the Permo Carboniferous glaciation or the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse Permian edit Main article Permian The Permian spans from million to million years ago and was the last period of the Paleozoic At the beginning, all continents clamped together to form the super continent Pangaea, surrounded by one ocean called Panthalassa The earth was very dry during this time, with harsh seasons, as the climate of the interior of Pangaea wasn't regulated by large bodies of water Reptiles and synapsids flourished in the new dry climate Creatures such as Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus ruled the new continent The first conifers evolved, then dominated the terrestrial landscape Nearing the end of the period, Scutosaurus and gorgonopsids filled the empty desert Eventually, they disappeared, along with % of all life on earth in an event simply known as the Great Dying , the world's third mass extinction event Mesozoic era edit Main article Mesozoic Also known as the Age of the dinosaurs , the Mesozoic features the rise of reptiles on their million year conquest to rule the earth from the seas, the land, and even in the air There are periods in the Mesozoic the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous Triassic edit Main article Triassic The Triassic ranges from million to million years ago The Triassic is a desolate transitional state in Earth's history between the Permian Extinction and the lush Jurassic Period It has three major epochs the Early Triassic, the Middle Triassic and the Late Triassic The Early Triassic lasted between million to million years ago and was dominated by deserts as Pangaea had not yet broken up, thus the interior was nothing but arid The Earth had just witnessed a massive die off in which % of all life went extinct The most common life on earth were Lystrosaurus, labyrinthodonts, and Euparkeria along with many other creatures that managed to survive the Great Dying Temnospondyli evolved during this time and would be the dominant predator for much of the Triassic Plateosaurus a prosauropod The Middle Triassic spans from million to million years ago The Middle Triassic featured the beginnings of the breakup of Pangaea, and the beginning of the Tethys Sea The ecosystem had recovered from the devastation of the Great Dying Phytoplankton, coral, and crustaceans all had recovered, and the reptiles began to get bigger and bigger New aquatic reptiles evolved such as ichthyosaurs and nothosaurs Meanwhile, on land, pine forests flourished, bringing along mosquitoes and fruit flies The first ancient crocodilians evolved, which sparked competition with the large amphibians that had since rule the freshwater world The Late Triassic spans from million to million years ago Following the bloom of the Middle Triassic, the Late Triassic featured frequent heat spells, as well as moderate precipitation inches per year The recent warming led to a boom of reptilian evolution on land as the first true dinosaurs evolve, as well as pterosaurs All this climactic change, however, resulted in a large die out known as the Triassic Jurassic extinction event, in which all archosaurs excluding ancient crocodiles , synapsids, and almost all large amphibians went extinct, as well as % of marine life in the fourth mass extinction event of the world The cause is debatable Jurassic edit Main article Jurassic Rhamphorhynchus The Jurassic ranges from million years to million years ago and features major epochs The Early Jurassic, the Middle Jurassic, and the Late Jurassic The Early Jurassic spans from million years to million years ago The climate was much more humid than the Triassic, and as a result, the world was very tropical In the oceans, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and ammonites filled the waters as the dominant creatures of the seas On land, dinosaurs and other reptiles staked their claim as the dominant race of the land, with species such as Dilophosaurus at the top The first true crocodiles evolved, pushing out the large amphibians to near extinction All in all, reptiles rise to rule the world Meanwhile, the first true mammals evolve, but never exceed the height of a shrew The Middle Jurassic spans from million to million years ago During this epoch, reptiles flourished as huge herds of sauropods, such as Brachiosaurus and Diplodicus, filled the fern prairies of the Middle Jurassic Many other predators rose as well, such as Allosaurus Conifer forests made up a large portion of the forests In the oceans, plesiosaurs were quite common, and ichthyosaurs were flourishing This epoch was the peak of the reptiles Inaccurately portrayed Stegosaurus The Late Jurassic spans from million to million years ago The Late Jurassic featured a massive extinction of sauropods and ichthyosaurs due to the separation of Pangaea into Laurasia and Gondwana in an extinction known as the Jurassic Cretaceous extinction Sea levels rose, destroying fern prairies and creating shallows in its wake Ichthyosaurs went extinct whereas sauropods, as a whole, did not die out in the Jurassic in fact, some species, like Titanosaurus, lived up to the K T extinction The increase in sea levels opened up the Atlantic sea way which would continue to get larger over time The divided world would give opportunity for the diversification of new dinosaurs Cretaceous edit Main article Cretaceous The Cretaceous is the longest period in the Mesozoic, but has only two periods the Early Cretaceous, and the Late Cretaceous Tylosaurus a mosasaur hunting Xiphactinus The Early Cretaceous spans from million to million years ago The Early Cretaceous saw the expansion of seaways, and as a result, the decline and extinction of sauropods except in South America Many coastal shallows were created, and that caused ichthyosaurs to die out Mosasaurs evolved to replace them as head of the seas Some island hopping dinosaurs, like Eustreptospondylus, evolved to cope with the coastal shallows and small islands of ancient Europe Other dinosaurs rose up to fill the empty space that the Jurassic Cretaceous extinction left behind, such as Carcharodontosaurus and Spinosaurus Of the most successful would be the Iguanodon which spread to every continent Seasons came back into effect and the poles got seasonally colder, but dinosaurs still inhabited

this area like the Leaellynasaura which inhabited the polar forests year round, and many dinosaurs migrated there during summer like Muttaburrasaurus Since it was too cold for crocodiles, it was the last stronghold for large amphibians, like Koolasuchus Pterosaurs got larger as species like Tapejara and Ornithocheirus evolved More importantly, the first true birds evolved which sparked competition between them and the pterosaurs The Late Cretaceous spans from million to million years ago The Late Cretaceous featured a cooling trend that would continue on in the Cenozoic period Eventually, tropics were restricted to the equator and areas beyond the tropic lines featured extreme seasonal changes in weather Dinosaurs still thrived as new species such as Tyrannosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Triceratops and hadrosaurs dominated the food web Pterosaurs, however, were going into a decline as birds took to the skies The last pterosaur to die off was Quetzalcoatlus Marsupials evolved within the large conifer forests as scavengers In the oceans, Mosasaurs ruled the seas to fill the role of the ichthyosaurs, and huge plesiosaurs, such as Elasmosaurus, evolved Also, the first flowering plants evolved At the end of the Cretaceous, the Deccan Traps and other volcanic eruptions were poisoning the atmosphere As this was continuing, it is thought that a large meteor smashed into earth, creating the Chicxulub Crater in an event known as the K T Extinction, the fifth and most recent mass extinction event, in which % of life on earth went extinct, including all non avian dinosaurs Everything over kilograms went extinct The age of the dinosaurs was officially over Cenozoic era edit Main article Cenozoic The Cenozoic features the rise of mammals on their conquest to rule the land, as the dinosaurs have now left a huge opening as top dog There are three division of the Cenozoic the Paleogene, the Neogene and Quaternary Paleogene edit Main article Paleogene The Paleogene spans from the extinction of the dinosaurs, some million years ago, to the dawn of the Neogene twenty three million years ago It features three epochs the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene Basilosaurus a whale, despite the name The Paleocene ranged from million to million years ago The Paleocene is a transitional point between the devastation that is the K T extinction, to the rich jungles environment that is the Early Eocene The Early Paleocene saw the recovery of the earth The continents began to take their modern shape, but all continents and India were separated from each other Afro Eurasia is separated by the Tethys Sea, and the Americas are separated by the strait of Panama, as the isthmus has not yet formed This epoch features a general warming trend, with jungles eventually reaching the poles The oceans were dominated by sharks as the large reptiles that had once ruled went extinct Archaic mammals filled the world such as creodonts and early primates that evolved during the Mesozoic, and as a result, there was nothing over kilograms Mammals are still quite small The Eocene epoch ranged from million years to million years ago In the Early Eocene, life was small and living in cramped jungles, much like the Paleocene There was nothing over the weight of kilograms Among them were early primates, whales and horses along with many other early forms of mammals At the top of the food chains were huge birds, such as Gastornis It is the only time in recorded history that birds ruled the world excluding their ancestors, the dinosaurs The temperature was degrees Celsius with little temperature gradient from pole to pole In the Mid Eocene, the circum Antarctic current between Australia and Antarctica formed which disrupted ocean currents worldwide and as a result caused a global cooling effect, shrinking the jungles This allowed mammals to grow to mammoth proportions, such as whales which are, by now, almost fully aquatic Mammals like Andrewsarchus were now at the top of the food chain and sharks were replaced by whales such as Basilosaurus as rulers of the seas The Late Eocene saw the rebirth of seasons, which caused the expansion of savanna like areas, along with the evolution of grass The Oligocene epoch spans from million to million years ago The Oligocene feature the expansion of grass which had led to many new species to evolve, including the first elephants, cats, dogs, marsupials and many other species still prevalent today Many other species of plants evolved in this period too, such as the evergreen trees A cooling period was still in effect and seasonal rains were as well Mammals still continued to grow larger and larger Paraceratherium, the largest land mammal to ever live evolved during this period, along with many other perissodactyls in an event known as the Grand Coupre Neogene edit Main article Neogene Animals of the Miocene Chalicotherium, Hyenadon, entelodont The Neogene spans from million to million years ago, and is the shortest geological period in the Phanerozoic It features two epochs the Miocene and the Pliocene The Miocene spans from to million years ago and is a period in which grass spreads further across, effectively dominating a large portion of the world, diminishing forests in the process Kelp forests evolved, leading to new species such as sea otters to evolve During this time, perissodactyls thrived, and evolved into many different varieties Alongside them were the apes, which evolved into a staggering species Overall, arid and mountainous land dominated most of the world, as did grazers The Tethys Sea finally closed with the creation of the Arabian Peninsula and in its wake left the Black, Red, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas This only increased aridity Many new plants evolved, and % of modern seed plants evolved in the mid Miocene The Pliocene ranges from to million years ago The Pliocene features dramatic climactic changes, which ultimately leads to modern species and plants The most dramatic are the formation of Panama, and the accumulation of ice at the poles, leading to a massive die off, India and Asia collide forming the Himalayas, the Rockies and Appalachian mountain ranges were formed, and the Mediterranean Sea dried up for the next several million years Along with these major geological events, Australopithecus evolves in Africa, beginning the human branch Also, with the isthmus of Panama, animals migrate across North and South America, wreaking havoc on the local ecology Climactic changes bring along savannas that are still continuing to spread across the world, Indian monsoons, deserts in East Asia, and the beginnings of the Sahara desert The earth's continents and seas move into their present shapes, and the world map hasn't changed much since Quaternary edit Main article Quaternary The Quaternary ranges from million to present day, and features modern animals, and dramatic climate changes and features two epochs the Pleistocene and the Holocene Mega fauna of the Pleistocene mammoths, cave lions, woolly rhino, Megaloceros, American horses Paleoclimatology in British spelling, palaeoclimatology is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth It uses a variety of proxy methods from the Earth and life sciences to obtain data previously preserved within e g rocks, sediments, ice sheets, tree rings, corals, shells and microfossils it then uses these records to determine the past states of the Earth's various climate regions and its atmospheric system Studies of past changes in the environment and biodiversity often reflect on the current situation, and specifically the impact of climate on mass extinctions and biotic recovery Contents hide History Reconstructing ancient climates Ice Dendroclimatology Sclerochronology Limitations Notable climate events in Earth history History of the atmosphere Earliest atmosphere Second atmosphere Third atmosphere Climate during geological ages Precambrian climate Phanerozoic climate Quaternary climate Climate forcings Internal processes and forcings External forcings Mechanisms See also References Notes Bibliography External links History edit Main articles History of climate change science and Historical climatology The scientific study field of paleoclimate begun to form in the early th century, when discoveries about glaciations and natural changes in Earth's climate past helped to identify the process of the greenhouse effect Reconstructing ancient climates edit Palaeotemperature graphs compressed together Main article Proxy climate Paleoclimatologists employ a wide variety of techniques to deduce ancient climates Ice edit Mountain glaciers and the polar ice caps ice sheets provide much data in paleoclimatology Ice coring projects in the ice caps of Greenland and Antarctica have yielded data going back several hundred thousand years—over , years in the case of the EPICA project Air trapped within fallen snow becomes encased in tiny bubbles as the snow is compressed into ice in the glacier under the weight of later years' snow This trapped air has proven a tremendously valuable source for direct measurement of the composition of air from the time the ice was formed Layering can be observed due to seasonal pauses in ice accumulation and can be used to establish chronology associating specific depths of the core with ranges of time Changes in the layering thickness can be used to determine changes in precipitation or temperature Oxygen quantity changes d O in ice layers represent changes in average ocean surface temperature Water molecules containing the heavier O evaporate at a higher temperature than water molecules containing the normal Oxygen isotope The ratio of O to O will be higher as temperature increases It also depends on other factors such as the water's salinity and the volume of water locked up in ice sheets Various cycles in those isotope ratios have been detected Pollen has been observed in the ice cores and can be used to understand which plants were present as the layer formed Pollen is produced in abundance and its distribution is typically well understood A pollen count for a specific layer can be produced by observing the total amount of pollen categorized by type shape in a controlled sample of that layer Changes in plant frequency over time can be plotted through statistical analysis of pollen counts in the core Knowing which plants were present leads to an understanding of precipitation and temperature, and types of fauna present Palynology includes the study of pollen for these purposes Volcanic ash is contained in some layers, and can be used to establish the time of the layer's formation Each volcanic event distributed ash with a unique set of properties shape and color of particles, chemical signature Establishing the ash's source will establish a range of time to associate with layer of ice Dendroclimatology edit Main article Dendroclimatology Climatic information can be obtained through an understanding of changes in tree growth Generally, trees respond to changes in climatic variables by speeding up or slowing down growth, which in turn is generally reflected a greater or lesser thickness in growth rings Different species, however, respond to changes in climatic variables in different ways A tree ring record is established by compiling information from many living trees in a specific area Older intact wood that has escaped decay can extend the time covered by the record by matching the ring depth changes to contemporary specimens Using this method some areas have tree ring records dating back a few thousand years Older wood not connected to a contemporary record can be dated generally with radiocarbon techniques A tree ring record can be used to produce information regarding precipitation, temperature, hydrology, and fire corresponding to a particular area On a longer time scale, geologists must refer to the sedimentary record for data Sedimentary content Sediments, sometimes lithified to form rock, may contain remnants of preserved vegetation, animals, plankton or pollen, which may be characteristic of certain climatic zones Biomarker molecules such as the alkenones may yield information about their temperature of formation Chemical signatures, particularly Mg Ca ratio of calcite in Foraminifera tests, can be used to reconstruct past temperature Isotopic ratios can provide further information Specifically, the d O record responds to changes in temperature and ice volume, and the d C record reflects a range of factors, which are often difficult to disentangle Sea floor core sample labelled to identify the exact spot on the sea floor where the sample was taken Slight variations in location can make a significant difference in the chemical and biological composition of the sediment sample Sedimentary facies On a longer time scale, the rock record may show signs of sea level rise and fall further, features such as fossilised sand dunes can be identified Scientists can get a grasp of long term climate by studying sedimentary rock going back billions of years The division of earth history into separate periods is largely based on visible changes in sedimentary rock layers that demarcate major changes in conditions Often these include major shifts in climate Sclerochronology edit Corals see also sclerochronology Coral rings are similar to tree rings, except they respond to different things, such as the water temperature, freshwater influx, pH changes, and wave action From this source, certain equipment can be used to derive the sea surface temperature and water salinity from the past few centuries The d O of coralline red algae provides a useful proxy of the combined sea surface temperature and sea surface salinity at high latitudes and the tropics, where many traditional techniques are limited Limitations edit A multinational consortium, the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica EPICA , has drilled an ice core in Dome C on the East Antarctic ice sheet and retrieved ice which dates to roughly , years ago The international ice core community has, under the auspices of International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences IPICS , defined a priority project to obtain the oldest possible ice core record from Antarctica, an ice core record reaching back to or towards million years ago The deep marine record, the source of most isotopic data, only exists on oceanic plates, which are eventually subducted — the oldest remaining material is million years old Older sediments are also more prone to corruption by diagenesis Resolution and confidence in the data decrease over time Notable climate events in Earth history edit See also List of periods and events in climate history, Geologic time scale and History of Earth Knowledge of precise climatic events decreases as the record goes further back in time Some notable climate events Faint young Sun paradox start Huronian glaciation ~ Mya Earth completely covered in ice probably due to Great Oxygenation Event Later Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth ~ Mya, precursor to the Cambrian Explosion Andean Saharan glaciation ~ Mya Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse ~ Mya Permian–Triassic extinction event Mya Oceanic Anoxic Events ~ Mya, Mya, and others Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event Mya Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum Paleocene–Eocene, Mya Younger Dryas The Big Freeze ~ , BC Holocene climatic optimum ~ – BC Climate changes of – AD Medieval warm period – Little Ice Age – Year Without a Summer History of the atmosphere edit See also Atmosphere of Earth and History of Earth Earliest atmosphere edit The first atmosphere would have consisted of gases in the solar nebula, primarily hydrogen In addition, there would probably have been simple hydrides such as those now found in gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, notably water vapor, methane and ammonia As the solar nebula dissipated, these gases would have escaped, partly driven off by the solar wind Second atmosphere edit The next atmosphere, consisting largely of nitrogen plus carbon dioxide and inert gases, was produced by outgassing from volcanism, supplemented by gases produced during the late heavy bombardment of Earth by huge asteroids A major part of carbon dioxide emissions were soon dissolved in water and built up carbonate sediments Water related sediments have been found dating from as early as billion years ago About billion years ago, nitrogen was the major part of the then stable second atmosphere An influence of life has to be taken into account rather soon in the history of the atmosphere, because hints of early life forms are to be found as early as billion years ago The fact that this is not perfectly in line with the % lower solar radiance compared to today of the early Sun has been described as the faint young Sun paradox The geological record however shows a continually relatively warm surface during the complete early temperature record of Earth with the exception of one cold glacial phase about billion years ago In the late Archaean eon an oxygen containing atmosphere began to develop, apparently from photosynthesizing cyanobacteria see Great Oxygenation Event which have been found as stromatolite fossils from billion years ago The early basic carbon isotopy isotope ratio proportions is very much in line with what is found today, suggesting that the fundamental features of the carbon cycle were established as early as billion years ago Third atmosphere edit The constant re