Prehistory: Notable Events & Concepts (Before Humans)

Supereon (Fact 1)

According to the GTS, it is the broadest classification of time, it is divided into Eons

Eon (Fact 1)

According to the GTS, it is the second broadest classification of time, it is divided into Eras and classified under Supereon

Era (Fact 1)

According to the GTS, it is the third broadest classification of time, it is divided into Periods and classified under Eon

Period (Fact 1)

According to the GTS, it is the fourth broadest classification of time, it is divided into Epochs and classified under Eras

Epoch (Fact 1)

According to the GTS, it is the fifth broadest classification of time, it is divided into Ages and classified under Periods

4.6 BYA - 541 MYA - Precambrian Supereon (Fact 1)

Supereon that includes the Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic Eons

4.6 BYA - 541 MYA - Precambrian Supereon (Fact 2)

Supereon that comes before the Phanerozoic Supereon

4.6 BYA - 541 MYA - Precambrian Supereon (Fact 3)

Supereon that started with the formation of the Earth and ended with the Cambrian Explosion

4.6 BYA - 541 MYA - Precambrian Supereon (Fact 4)

Supereon that comprises 85-88% of the history of the Earth

4.6 BYA - 541 MYA - Precambrian Supereon (Fact 5)

Supereon in which multicellular organisms didn't exist yet up until its end

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 1)

Eon that can be divided into Eras which have names, but aren't officially recognized in part because of it being the oldest Eon, however some of these Eras include the Cryptic, Basin Group, Nectarian, and Imbrian Eras and also coincide with the phases of the Solar System including the Early and Late Bombardment Phases

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 2)

Eon before the Archean Eon, it is named after the namesake Greek God of the Underworld

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 3)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of the Earth and Moon, likely via the Giant-Impact Hypothesis

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 4)

Eon in which Earth was covered in oceans of magma as a result of multiple sources of impact energy including the possible Giant-Impact Hypothesis, formation of the planet's core, and other planetesimal collisions

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 5)

Eon in which Earth's crustal rocks where outgassing (mostly) Greenhouse Gases into the atmosphere and in which Solar Wind eventually blew off all of the debris around Earth and its Moon

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 7)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of the first mineral, Zircon

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 6)

Eon Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of the Earth and Moon's crust and on Earth, it eventually cools enough and along with the fact that comets hit the Earth and brought water that would melt on it, oceans formed

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 8)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of the first (igneous) rock, Acasta Gneiss

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 9)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of Earth's atmosphere which came from multiple sources including the Earth's cool crust outgassing, and from comets and meteorites that hit Earth after the early bombardment phase of the Solar System

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 10)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was (likely) the earliest existence of (single-celled) life based on there being high amounts of Carbon-12 (in the Jack Hills rocks)

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 11)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the planet's core of liquid iron not being cool enough to solidify despite such high pressures, and the massive volcanic activity that came as a result that went from the core and punched through the volcanic crust creating the greenhouse gas-based atmosphere

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 12)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was constant volcanic activity, cosmic bombardment, raging storms, and rock-melting temperatures

4.6 BYA - 4 BYA - Hadean Eon (Fact 13)

Eon without a fossil record and is thus characterized by being the first Eon since there is no fossil record

Giant Impact Hypothesis (Fact 1)

Hypothesis which states that a smaller version of Earth and another planet named Theia collided, vaporizing the crust of smaller Earth and as a result, forming temporary rings around it that later came together to form the Moon

Nebular Hypothesis (Fact 1)

Hypothesis which states that the Solar System formed out of the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud most of which collected in the center of the cloud to form the Sun while the rest flattened into a protoplanetary disk out of which planets, moons, and asteroids formed

4 BYA - 2.5 BYA - Archean Eon (Fact 1)

Eon that can be divided into Eras which include the Eoarchean Era, Paleoarchean Era, Mesoarchean Era, and Neoarchean Era

4 BYA - 2.5 BYA - Archean Eon (Fact 2)

Eon after the Hadean Eon and before the Proterozoic Eon, it is named after the namesake Greek word meaning "origin" or "beginning"

4 BYA - 2.5 BYA - Archean Eon (Fact 3)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of the first continents as a result of the Earth's crust being cool enough to allow them to form, specifically during the first era of this eon

4 BYA - 2.5 BYA - Archean Eon (Fact 4)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the first forms of (single-celled) life (if they weren't already present during the previous Eon), likely photosynthetic forms (during the first era of this eon), Stromatolites, and the namesake domain of life (forms during the second era of this eon)

4 BYA - 2.5 BYA - Archean Eon (Fact 5)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of Earth's oceans by means of the last few comets that mostly impacted the Earth in the previous eon coming down and delivering water and other organic molecules that eventually formed the world's first oceans

4 BYA - 2.5 BYA - Archean Eon (Fact 6)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the hazy landscape shaping much of the Earth in the same way that the atmosphere of present-day Titan (moon of Jupiter) shapes itself

4 BYA - 2.5 BYA - Archean Eon (Fact 7)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the atmosphere being combined with various Aurora Borealis due to the fact that the Earth's magnetosphere had not been fully developed and that could have taken place at any time because the chaotic nature of the liquid core reflects the chaotic nature of Earth's developing magnetic field

4 BYA - 2.5 BYA - Archean Eon (Fact 8)

Eon which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of a (likely) chaotic magnetosphere due to the fact that the inner core had not been formed yet and that the liquid core of the inside of the planet was super hot but not hot enough to solidify despite high pressures and therefore was not as orderly as that of a solid core in the future and in which there may have been no poles whatsoever

4 BYA - 3.6 BYA - Eoarchean Era (Fact 1)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the start and development of plate tectonics, plate tectonic activity, and faulting and folding within the Earth's crust along with the formation of plate structures, cratons (more stable and upper parts of continental plates that are more resistant to deeper geologic activity), and continental masses or continents

4 BYA - 3.6 BYA - Eoarchean Era (Fact 2)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of the first metamorphic and sedimentary rocks

4 BYA - 3.6 BYA - Eoarchean Era (Fact 3)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the start and development of photosynthetic life

4 BYA - 3.6 BYA - Eoarchean Era (Fact 4)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the start and development of Banded-Iron Formations (BIFs) having formed in sea water as the result of photosynthetic cyanobacteria producing Oxygen that dissolved Iron in Earth's oceans to form insoluble Iron Oxides, which precipitated out, forming a thin layer on the ocean floor which became the BIF (and which resulted in green, rather than blue oceans because of the color of dissolved iron reflecting sunlight)

4 BYA - 3.6 BYA - Eoarchean Era (Fact 5)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was a series of geological changes and developments in the Napier Mountains (Eastern Antarctica), an orogeny; Canadian Shield (Eastern Canada), Akilia Island (Western Greenland), Ukrainian Shield (Southeastern Europe), and Voronezh Massif (Southwestern Russia)

4 BYA - 3.6 BYA - Eoarchean Era (Fact 0)

Era after the Hadean Eon and before the Paleoarchean Era

3.6 - 3.2 BYA - Paleoarchean Era (Fact 1)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the likely formation of the first supercontinent (where all continents come together to form one giant landmass) called Vaalbara

3.6 - 3.2 BYA - Paleoarchean Era (Fact 2)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the continued development of cratons that already formed during the previous Era including the Canadian Shield, East European Craton, and Kaapvaal Craton in Southern Africa

3.6 - 3.2 BYA - Paleoarchean Era (Fact 3)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the first split in the Tree of Life, in which there became 2 domains: the namesake and Bacteria and in which the second, Bacteria, in the form of Cyanobacteria, Eubacteria, Microbial Mats, Stromatolites, and Chert; spreads across the Earth and is found today as the oldest fossilized bacteria

3.6 - 3.2 BYA - Paleoarchean Era (Fact 4)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was one of the largest ever impact events that occurred at what is now known as a result of it happening as the Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa, leaving an asteroid crater 300 miles wide

3.6 - 3.2 BYA - Paleoarchean Era (Fact 5)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was a series of geological changes and developments in the Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa), Narryer Gneiss Terrane (Western Australia), Pilbara and Yilgarn Cratons (Western Australia), Zimbabwe Craton (Southeastern Africa), Baltic Shield (part of the East European Craton), and the Johannesburg Dome (South Africa)

3.6 - 3.2 BYA - Paleoarchean Era (Fact 0)

Era which comes after the Eoarchean Era and before the Mesoarchean Era

3.2 - 2.9 BYA - Mesoarchean Era (Fact 1)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the likely formation of the supercontinents Ur, and later, Kenorland

3.2 - 2.9 BYA - Mesoarchean Era (Fact 2)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was a key step in the evolution of photosynthetic cyanobacteria in which they evolve to use water as a reducing agent resulting in a byproduct or "waste product" of Oxygen, allowing for the greatest production of atmospheric Oxygen yet and which eventually leads to the Great Oxidation Event in the following eon

3.2 - 2.9 BYA - Mesoarchean Era (Fact 3)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the new amounts of Oxygen produced from cyanobacteria dissolving iron in the oceans to create iron ore but eventually rise into the atmosphere and becomes poisonous to bacteria

3.2 - 2.9 BYA - Mesoarchean Era (Fact 4)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the Earth being continually bombarded by high tides and hurricane winds, forces of which are thought to have stimulated evolutionary processes such as the evolution of photosynthetic bacteria to produce Oxygen as a byproduct

3.2 - 2.9 BYA - Mesoarchean Era (Fact 5)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was a series of geological changes and developments in the Onverwacht and Fig-Tree Groups (South Africa), Orogeny of Humboldt Mountains (Antarctica), Tanzania Craton (Southern Africa), Yilgarn Craton (Australia), and Narryer Gneiss Terrane (Australia)

3.2 - 2.9 BYA - Mesoarchean Era (Fact 0)

Era after the Eoarchean Era and before the Neoarchean Era

2.8 - 2.6 BYA - Neoarchean Era (Fact 1)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the dissolution of Vaalbara and Ur, some of which reintegrated into Kenorland while the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe Cratons, formed in previous eras, come together and are the first cratons to come together to form a non-supercontinental landmass

2.8 - 2.6 BYA - Neoarchean Era (Fact 2)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the first "supervolcano"

2.8 - 2.6 BYA - Neoarchean Era (Fact 3)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the first "verified" coral reef "community"

2.8 - 2.6 BYA - Neoarchean Era (Fact 4)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the "dramatic" appearance of Oxygen in Earth's atmosphere

2.8 - 2.6 BYA - Neoarchean Era (Fact 5)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was a series of geological changes and developments including the formation of the Hamersley Basin (Australia), Temagami Greenstone Belt, Blake River Megacaldera Complex, Noranda and Sturgeon Lake Calderas, Abitibi Greenstone Belt (Canada), Insell Orogeny (the likely first ever "technothermal" event), and (somewhat likely), a Komatite eruption (global)

2.8 - 2.6 BYA - Neoarchean Era (Fact 0)

Era after the Mesoarchean Era and before the Paleoproterozoic Era

Faint Young Sun Paradox (Fact 1)

The idea that the Earth was warm enough to not have a massive ice age 3 billion years ago (despite the fact that the sun was still in its early stages itself and was only 2/3 as bright and hot as it is today) due to the fact that volcanic activity all across the Earth was constantly producing greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, H2Og) which trap heat and form an atmosphere separating the Earth from space where the trapped heat keeps the Earth warm and the oceans liquid and in which evaporated water from the oceans also contributes since water vapor is a greenhouse gas, such combinations/amounts of greenhouse gases kept the Earth alive so long ago but would be toxic to all life on Earth today

2.5 BYA - 541 MYA - Proterozoic Eon (Fact 1)

Eon that can be divided into Eras which include the Paleoproterozoic Era, Mesoproterozoic Era, and Neoproterozoic Era

2.5 BYA - 541 MYA - Proterozoic Eon (Fact 2)

Eon that comes after the Archean Eon and before the Phanerozoic Eon, it is named after the namesake Greek words for "former life", since there was life on the planet that isn't on the planet now

2.5 BYA - 541 MYA - Proterozoic Eon (Fact 3)

Eon that spans the longest amount of time, it is the longest of the Eons

2.5 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Paleoproterozoic Era (Fact 1)

Era that can be divided into Periods which include the Siderian Period, Rhyacian Period, Orosirian Period, and Statherian Period

2.5 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Paleoproterozoic Era (Fact 2)

Era that spans the longest amount of time, it is the longest of the Eras but in which there were 450 days in a year and only 20 hours in a day

2.5 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Paleoproterozoic Era (Fact 3)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the Great Oxidation Event, which could be described as the emission of tons of Oxygen into the atmosphere via photosynthetic cyanobacteria and other multicellular forms of life, creating an Oxygen-rich atmosphere on Earth for the first time, replacing the previous Carbon Dioxide-rich atmosphere

2.5 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Paleoproterozoic Era (Fact 4)

Era which saw many events take place, one of which was the Huronian Glaciation, the first ever Ice Age

2.4 BYA - 2 BYA - "Great Oxidation (or Oxygenation) Event" (Fact 1)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era in which cyanobacteria produced so much Oxygen that it eventually took over Earth's previously reducing atmosphere and ocean surface of Greenhouse Gases and turned into an oxidizing atmosphere and ocean surface of Oxygen, thus causing the first mass extinction, of life that was dependent on the reducing atmosphere

2.4 BYA - 2 BYA - "Great Oxidation (or Oxygenation) Event" (Fact 2)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era in which there was a massive reduction in Methane and other heat-trapping gases, and in which the massive amounts of Oxygen produced reacted with the Methane that was left to produce water vapor and carbon dioxide, which do not trap heat as well and as a result the Earth's overall temperature would drop and would later usher in an ice age due to the fact that the effect of the Young Faint Sun Paradox has now worn off due to the global lack of Methane in the atmosphere

2.4 BYA - 2 BYA - "Great Oxidation (or Oxygenation) Event" (Fact 3)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era caused by the fact that lifeforms at one time were dependent on a reducing atmosphere of greenhouse gases, notably Archaea and "anoxic" Bacteria and not on Oxygen, and now Oxygen was heavily replacing these gases

2.4 BYA - 2 BYA - "Great Oxidation (or Oxygenation) Event" (Fact 4)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era caused by the fact that the Oxygen initially produced by cyanobacteria oxidized the Iron in oceans (that got there by dissolving into the oceans from sediment of rocks existing at the time) thus creating a part of BIFs, but of which all the Iron eventually became oxidized and by which all of the BIFs eventually became saturated and couldn't absorb Oxygen anymore

2.4 BYA - 2 BYA - "Great Oxidation (or Oxygenation) Event" (Fact 5)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era caused by the fact that the Oxygen initially produced by cyanobacteria oxidized the decomposition of life forms until there were no more lifeforms to decompose and/or all of the decomposed lifeforms eventually became saturated and couldn't absorb Oxygen anymore

2.4 BYA - 2 BYA - "Great Oxidation (or Oxygenation) Event" (Fact 6)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era caused by the fact that cyanobacteria evolved to produce Oxygen rather than Water when photosynthesizing in the first place and thus, after the saturation of BIFs and decomposed life, there were no more consumers of Oxygen on Earth at the time

2.5 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Paleoproterozoic Era (Fact 0)

Era after the Neoarchean Era and before the Mesoproterozoic Era

2.4 BYA - 2.1 BYA - Huronian Glaciation (Fact 1)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era in which the Earth was (likely) completely covered in ice, known as "Snowball Earth" or confirming the "Snowball Earth Hypothesis"

2.4 BYA - 2.1 BYA - Huronian Glaciation (Fact 2)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era in which photosynthesis practically stopped due to the global effects of the ice

2.4 BYA - 2.1 BYA - Huronian Glaciation (Fact 3)

Major event that occurred during the Paleoproterozoic Era caused by the effects of the Great Oxidation Event

Snowball Earth Hypothesis (Fact 1)

Hypothesis which states that glaciers/slush/ice/snow covered the entire surface of the Earth at some time before the Cryogenian Period of the Proterozoic Eon

2.5 BYA - 2.3 BYA - Siderian Period (Fact 0)

Period after the Neoarchean Era and before the Rhyacian Period

2.5 BYA - 2.3 BYA - Siderian Period (Fact 1)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the Great Oxidation Event, which could be described as the emission of tons of Oxygen into the atmosphere via photosynthetic cyanobacteria and other multicellular forms of life, creating an Oxygen-rich atmosphere on Earth for the first time, replacing the previous Carbon Dioxide-rich atmosphere

2.5 BYA - 2.3 BYA - Siderian Period (Fact 2)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the Huronian Glaciation, the first ever Ice Age

2.5 BYA - 2.3 BYA - Siderian Period (Fact 3)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of the Suavjarvi Crater (West Russia) and Yarrabubba Crater (West Australia); the remnants of Suavjarvi are still recognizable, unlike Yarrabubba (which formed during the Huronian Glaciation and possibly into the next period); they are the first and second oldest known craters on Earth, respectively

2.5 BYA - 2.3 BYA - Siderian Period (Fact 5)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was a series of geological changes and developments including the formation of the now-extinct continent Arctica out of the Canadian Laurentian Shield and Siberian Craton, Gawler Craton (Australia), Angaran Shield (Siberia), and Dharwar Craton (India)

2.5 BYA - 2.3 BYA - Siderian Period (Fact 4)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the Kenoran (Algoman) Orogeny, in which typical mountain building took place mostly in Canada and/or Upper North America

2.3 BYA - 2.05 BYA - Rhyacian Period (Fact 1)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which which was the formation of the first Red Beds produced by Iron Oxides forming from oxidized Iron from Oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere likely as a result of the Great Oxidation Event

2.3 BYA - 2.05 BYA - Rhyacian Period (Fact 0)

Period after the Siderian Period and before the Orosirian Period

2.3 BYA - 2.05 BYA - Rhyacian Period (Fact 2)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the end of the Kenoran Orogeny in Canada and start of the Eburnean Orogeny (Cycle) in West Africa and Wopmay Orogeny in Canada

2.3 BYA - 2.05 BYA - Rhyacian Period (Fact 3)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the end of the Huronian Glaciation

2.3 BYA - 2.05 BYA - Rhyacian Period (Fact 4)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the first ever multi-cellular/eukaryotic life, since all life previous to this period was Prokaryotic (Bacteria and Archaea), collectively referred to as "Gabonionta"

2.3 BYA - 2.05 BYA - Rhyacian Period (Fact 5)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was a series of geological changes and developments including the formation of the transition-metal-rich Bushveld Igneous Complex and Transvaal Basin (South Africa), the chromium-rich Stillwater Complex (North America), development of Man Shield, Birimian Domain, and West African Craton (West Africa), and development of the currently existing orogenies at the time

2.05 BYA - 1.8 BYA - Orosirian Period (Fact 0)

Period after the Rhyacian Period and before the Statherian Period

2.05 BYA - 1.8 BYA - Orosirian Period (Fact 1)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of the Vredefort Crater (South Africa), the third oldest and largest known crater on Earth and the Sudbury Crater aka Sudbury Basin (Canada), the fourth oldest and third largest known crater on Earth

2.05 BYA - 1.8 BYA - Orosirian Period (Fact 2)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of Atlantica, the first supercontinent of the Proterozoic Eon

2.05 BYA - 1.8 BYA - Orosirian Period (Fact 3)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the second split in the Tree of Life, in which there became 3 domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and the newly evolved Eukarya; with the emergence of the first Eukaryotes, as well as the first Viruses (in the Bacteria Domain) as well as the new (compared to the Archaean) lineages of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic life, thus expanding the Tree of Life for the first time since the Paleoarchean Era

2.05 BYA - 1.8 BYA - Orosirian Period (Fact 4)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the reemergence of prokaryotic life like Gunflintia as well as the emergence of acritarchs and minerals and/or rocks/fossils that formed out of these lifeforms like Gunflint chert

2.05 BYA - 1.8 BYA - Orosirian Period (Fact 5)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was a series of geological changes and developments including the Glenburgh Orogeny, Glenburgh Terrane, and Dalgaringa Supersuite (Australia); Penokean Orogeny (North America), and Capricorn Orogeny and Gascoyne Complex (West Australia)

1.8 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Statherian Period (Fact 0)

Period after the Orosirian Period that concludes the Paleoproterozoic Era and before the Calymmian Period and Mesoproterozoic Era

1.8 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Statherian Period (Fact 1)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation of Columbia, the second supercontinent of the Proterozoic Eon

1.8 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Statherian Period (Fact 2)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the emergence of Deserts or "Ergs"

1.8 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Statherian Period (Fact 3)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the start and development of multiple orogenies including the Barramundi (Northern Australia), Colorado, Big Sky; and Yavapi (North America), Gothian (East Europe), Mangaroon and Yapungku (Western Australia), and Kararan (Southern Australia)

1.8 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Statherian Period (Fact 4)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was the formation and stabilization of the Guiana Shield and the continent of South America

1.8 BYA - 1.6 BYA - Statherian Period (Fact 5)

Period which saw many events take place, one of which was a series of geological changes and developments including the MacArthur Basin (Northern Australia), Durlacher Supersuite (Western Australia), Gawler Range (Southern Australia), Darling Fault (Australia),