Earth`s History
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Transcript Earth`s History
Earth’s History
4 Eras of Geologic Time
4 Eras of Geologic Time
Precambrian
Paleozoic
Mesozoic
Cenozoic
Precambrian Events
The
earth’s crust formed
The atmosphere formed
The ocean’s formed
First life forms developed
The earth’s crust
The
earth was very hot from its
formation (The nebular theory)
It cooled from the outside
As it cooled, the earth’s crust
formed and cracked to form plates
An atmosphere developed
Volcanic
activity was very
common as the crust formed and
cracked
– CO2 and Nitrogen
– H20 vapor
– Methane, ammonia, and sulfur
dioxides
Earth’s atmosphere
Earth has an atmosphere for 3
reasons
1. Volcanic history
2. Mass of the planet
3. Amount of radiation from
the sun
The oceans formed
As
the earth continued to cool, the
water vapor in the atmosphere
condensed and fell as rain.
This water formed the oceans,
rivers, lakes, streams, and
underground water ways.
What were the conditions on
the early earth?
Intense
volcanic activity
Warm, shallow seas
Turbulent atmosphere
– Lots of lightning
– Lots of storms
How did life form on this
planet?
Life
originated on this planet
Life was seeded here by
– A comet carrying carbon compounds
– An asteroid carrying single-celled
life forms
What did the first organisms
on earth look like?
The
oldest fossils of life on this
planet are
– Bacteria
– Blue Green algae
Bacteria
Single-celled
life forms
No true nucleus or organelles
(prokaryotes)
Very hardy and resistant to extreme
conditions
Many species do not need oxygen
Blue Green Algae
Single
celled organisms
Prokaryotes
Able to photosynthesize—use CO2
and H2O to produce glucose (food)
and O2
Put tons of oxygen into atmosphere
Oxygen in the atmosphere
Toxic
to many forms of bacteria
Changed our atmospheric makeup
by adding ozone to the earth’s
atmospheric makeup
O2 is converted to O3 (ozone) by
lightning
What happens to early life
forms?
In
order to survive they must adapt to
using oxygen
Single-celled organisms that have welldefined nuclei develop (eukaryotes)
Multicellular algal forms develop (first
plants)
Paleozoic—Age of Fishes
“Paleo”—means
early and –”zoic”
means animals
Life “exploded” on the planet
Many marine life forms developed
Plants and animals move onto land
– Small wetlands plants and simple insects
Amphibians
developed
Atlantic ocean begins to develop and
continents begin to move apart
Mesozoic—Age of Reptiles
“Meso”
means middle “-zoic” means
animals
All continents joined together at the
beginning of this era, but begins to
break apart
Animals—dinosaurs evolve and
become extinct
Plants—ferns the predominant plant
form—flowering plants evolve
Cenozoic—Age of Mammals
“Ceno”
means recent “-zoic”
means animals
Mammals evolve and flourish
Humans and human civilizations
develop