Historical geology

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 126. Chapters: Geologic time scale, Paleontology, Supercontinent, Snowball Earth, Land bridge, Stage, Nicolas Steno, Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point, History of the Earth, Superior craton, Geological history of Earth, Pilbara craton, Trans-Hudson orogeny, Mackenzie Large Igneous Province, Heinrich event, Yilgarn Craton, Tollmann's hypothetical bolide, Adel Mountains Volcanic Field, Paleomagnetism, Doggerland, Zomia, Beringia, Lost lands, Sequence stratigraphy, Cenomanian, Wyoming craton, Sahara pump theory, Geologic temperature record, Benoît de Maillet, Deep time, Carbonate hardgrounds, Geologic record, Hutton's Unconformity, Calcite sea, European Land Mammal Mega Zone, Erathem, Gawler craton, Sundaland, Aragonite sea, River Warren Falls, Eonothem, Cordilleran Ice Sheet, Crowley's Ridge, Churchill craton, Great Falls Tectonic Zone, Saharan Metacraton, Geosyncline, Laurentide ice sheet, System, Chronozone, East European craton, Storegga Slide, Surface exposure dating, Chatham Rise, Global Standard Stratigraphic Age, Siccar Point, Cimmerian Plate, Tuareg Shield, Paleosol, Newark Group, Paleoseismology, Patagonian Ice Sheet, Farallon Plate, Paleontological Site Arroio Cancela, Appalachia, Timeline of the geologic history of the United States, Slave craton, Absaroka sequence, New Red Sandstone, Kula Plate, Red Rock Pass, Inland sea, Belt Supergroup, Cratonic sequence, Geological history of Europe, Zuñi sequence, Australian Shield, Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, Shan-Thai Terrane, Cornbrash, South American Land Mammal Age, Cyclostratigraphy, Intermontane Plate, Tyrrell Sea, Rae craton, Tippecanoe sequence, Erygmascope, Asian Land Mammal Age, Aymestry Limestone, Sikeston Ridge, Market Weighton Axis, Paleontological Site Chiniquá, Epeiric sea, Sauk sequence, Tejas sequence, Kula-Farallon Ridge, Tethyan Trench, Sanga da Alemoa, First appearance datum, Baltic Plate, Moa Plate, Giebichenstein, Paleogeology, Intermontane Trench, Farallon Trench, Paleontological Site Largo Padre Daniel Cargnin, Paleontological Site of Agua Negra, Lhasa Plate, Sclavia craton. Excerpt: The history of the Earth describes the most important events and fundamental stages in the development of the planet Earth from its formation 4.6 billion years ago to the present day. Nearly all branches of natural science have contributed to the understanding of the main events of the Earth's past. The age of Earth is approximately one-third of the age of the universe. Immense geological and biological changes have occurred during that time span. See the headings of the Table of Contents below for a summary of the eons of Earth's history. Starting with the Earth's formation by accretion from the solar nebula 4.54 billion years ago (4.54 Ga), the first eon in the Earth's history is called the Hadean. It lasted until the Archaean eon, which began 3.8 Ga. The oldest rocks found on Earth date to about 4.0 Ga, and the oldest detrital zircon crystals in some rocks have been dated to about 4.4 Ga, close to the formation of the Earth's crust and the Earth itself. Because not much material from this time is preserved, little is known about Hadean times, but scientists hypothesize at an estimated 4.53 Ga, shortly after formation of an initial crust, the proto-Earth was impacted by a smaller protoplanet, which ejected part of the mantle and crust into space and created the Moon. During the Hadean, the Earth's surface was under a continuous bombardment by mete...