Earth is an amazing planet. The very fact that our planet is billions of years old should astound you. In fact, Earth is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old according to National Geographic. Can you imagine being alive for 4.5 billion years?
From Earth’s beginning to today, Earth has had some great time periods. These time periods can be referred to as Earth’s “golden ages”. A period of time that Earth prospered like no other and brought significant change. Let us take a moment to glance into Earth’s greatest years of being 4.5 billion years old.
Roughly 4 billion years ago, Earth began to shift out of just being born. After many years of Earth’s infancy, the planet began to change rapidly. This stage in Earth’s timeline is known as the Archean Eon; a beginning of all life on Earth.
According to the YouTube video The Complete History of Earth: Archean Eon by Paleo Analysis, Earth finally started to break into eras of significant length. The first era is known as the Eoarchean Era, which lasted for roughly a half a billion years. During this time frame, Earth was pelted drastically with asteroids, meteors, and comets alike with great force.
The subsiding impacts eventually led to the next era known as the Paleoarchean Era, which lasted roughly another half a billion years. During this era, Earth began to form the oceanic waters cooling the atmosphere. The oceanic waters eventually formed the first ever land mass – a continent! While this was a significant event, one much larger took place during this era. Life on Earth began.
As Earth continued to cool, the Mesoarchean Era was the next era that drastically altered Earth’s crust. The land masses moved and shifted causing supercontinents to begin constructing on Earth’s surface, while the newly formed life pumped oxygen into the atmosphere. The Mesoarchean Era lasted another half a billion years; Earth was beginning to change rapidly.
The last and final era of this time period on Earth is known as the Neoarchean Era, which spanned a short time frame of roughly 300 million years. Earth was a new planet altogether during this time frame. Going from a battered, crusty, asteroid hot mess, to a cold, ice-induced oceanic ball that supports living organisms. Eventually, life on Earth began to shift from being strictly aquatic life to adapting fully on dry land.
The Archean Eon is one of Earth’s greatest time periods because the eon showcases the beginning of the ocean waters, continents, atmosphere, and life on Earth. Without this time period, nothing that we have today would even exist. However, we should note that creating all the ocean waters and life on Earth took a little over 2 billion years. In other words, half of Earth’s life was merely just establishing a foothold for the greatest years to come.
Did you know: the current eon that we are living in today is actually the Phanerozoic Eon? According to DigitalAtlasofAncientLife.org, the diagram shown breaks down all of Earth’s time periods into a simple colorful table. As shown, our current eon is actually connected to some of the greatest time periods on Earth!
Jumping from the Archean Eon to the Phanerozoic Eon is rather a huge leap in time. Essentially, the time leap between the Archean Eon and Phanerozoic Eon is another 2 billion years. The Phanerozoic Eon roughly began 500-600 million years ago and is actually just starting, if you can believe that. In other words, 4 billion years later from Earth’s starting point, the Phanerozoic Eon begins!
The first era of the Phanerozoic Eon is the Paleozoic Era, which lasted roughly 289 million years. The Paleozoic Era is one of Earth’s greatest time periods because of the vast amounts of change. Earth is now forming newer forms of life both from plant life and the actual start of animals. According to the YouTube video History of the Earth Part 2: Phanerozoic Eon – Paleozoic Era by Professor Dave Explains, animals originally started as creatures that dwelled in the oceanic waters. Eventually, the aquatic creatures adapted to dry land surfaces to search for sustenance, which they found in plants. Thus, generating the first land living animals to ever walk on Earth!
The next era is a favorite to many people today – the Mesozoic Era or the age of the dinosaurs. The Mesozoic Era is one of Earth’s “golden ages” and remains as a hallmark of an astounding achievement. Life on Earth became huge, literally, and prospered like no other. The atmosphere, continental changes, and further expansion of terraforming alterations made planet Earth a marvel.The Mesozoic Era lasted for roughly 186 million years until an unfortunate end came around for all life.
Roughly 56 million years ago was the next era on Earth that contributed to a great time period known as the Eocene Epoch. According to the YouTube video The Last Time the Globe Warmed by PBS Eons, most of Earth’s land masses were covered in rich foliage and tropical rainforests. The oceanic water levels were raised at their highest peak, covering much of the already formed continents we know today. Additionally, the global temperature was rather warm and inviting everywhere. However, the biggest feature of this time period was the animal kingdom shift. During the Eocene Epoch, large marine reptiles dominated the ocean waters while small mammals inhabited the small clutches of land masses.
Before the inevitable ice age event, one of the last greatest time periods on Earth was known as the Oligocene Epoch which was roughly 30 million years ago. According to the YouTube video The Oligocene Epoch by Explified, Earth manifested the core mammal species we know today. Horses, rhinos, cats, and many other unique mammalian animals began to prosper heavily. Mammals, during the Oligocene Epoch, were the largest mammals to have ever lived. Much of Earth’s atmosphere, climates, continents, and ocean waters were also changing and began to form today’s standard habitats.
Earth was much different since the Mesozoic Era. The atmosphere, continents, ocean waters and animal kingdom were extremely different. From dinosaurs to mammals – the changes on Earth are ever apparent and amazing. If we look at all of the “golden ages” that have happened on Earth, most of them are clustered together in the Phanerozoic Eon. Which means that Earth has really been on a roll lately!
Currently, Earth is in the Holocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era. In other words, 4.5 billion years after the initial beginnings that Earth started. The planet Earth has withstood countless problems, changes, and revelations for countless years. From the simple alterations of adding water, to harboring new forms of life, Earth continues to change indefinitely.
The Holocene Epoch started 11,700 years ago according Larry Agenboard and Rhodes Fairbridge from Britannica.com. This is one of Earth’s greatest time periods because of one significant factor: homosapiens. The first ever species of living beings ever to inhabit Earth that thrived together.
However, the Holocene Epoch has not fully ended yet. Not only that, but the epoch within the Cenozoic Era truly holds a candle to the giant overbearing fires that the other eras contain. For example, the Mesozoic Era housed Earth’s greatest living animals, while the Paleoarchean Era started Earth’s ocean waters and all life. The competition for being a great time period for Earth is rather stiff.
We may not know when the Holocene Epoch will end. Currently, the time period is going down as a “golden age”. But what will Earth’s next “golden age” involve? As time moves forward, one can only speculate what will happen on Earth next and what will be the next greatest time period to occur.
The name “Pondersaur” means “words with a roar” alluding to the creature’s distinct communication.
