Earth Science with Sir Tutri: History of the Earth: The Geologic Time Scale

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE (GTS) is a system of chronological dating that relates geological strata (stratigraphy) to time. It is used by geologists, paleontologists, and other Earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships of events that have occurred during Earth's history.

The largest defined unit of time is the supereon, composed of eons. Eons are divided into eras, which are in turn divided into periods, epochs and ages. The terms eonothem, erathem, system, series, and stage are used to refer to the layers of rock that correspond to these periods of geologic time. Years are expressed as MYA or MA, meaning “million years ago.”

Eons

Eons are the largest intervals of geologic time and are hundreds of millions of years in duration. In the time scale above you can see the Phanerozoic Eon is the most recent eon and began more than 500 million years ago.

Eras

Eons are divided into smaller time intervals known as eras. In the time scale above you can see that the Phanerozoic is divided into three eras: Cenozoic, Mesozoic and Paleozoic. Very significant events in Earth's history are used to determine the boundaries of the eras.

Periods

Eras are subdivided into periods. The events that bound the periods are widespread in their extent but are not as significant as those which bound the eras. In the time scale above you can see that the Paleozoic is subdivided into the Permian, Pennsylvanian, Mississippian, Devonian, Silurian, Ordovician and Cambrian periods.

Epochs

Finer subdivisions of time are possible, and the periods of the Cenozoic are frequently subdivided into epochs. Subdivision of periods into epochs can be done only for the most recent portion of the geologic time scale. This is because older rocks have been buried deeply, intensely deformed and severely modified by long-term earth processes. As a result, the history contained within these rocks cannot be as clearly interpreted.