Details Title: Biography of Earth Description: Chapter 13 Total Flash Cards: 21 Created: 04/08/2009 17:14:01		New Users: To study from this flashcard set, or to create your own your own study flash cards, REGISTER HERE. Existing Users: CLICK HERE. Additional Geology Flashcards
Cards in this set: Term 4 Eons Definition       -Hadean Eon       -Archean Eon       -Proterozoic Eon       -Phanerozoic Eon Term Hadean Eon Definition -Began with the formation of Earth by planetesimal accretion       -Age of meteorites       -Mars size planet hit the earth, and the debris from collision formed a ring around     the Earth, creating the moon       -Was close, now far away       -A molten surface, uninhabitable       -First oceans created due to rain Term Archean Eon Definition -3.8 Ga Earth cooled from lithosphere       -Plate tectonics                   -Many small microplates                   -Archean lithosphere was too hot to subduct       -Continental crust formed when low-density felsic rocks formed above subduction zones                   Term Proterozoic Eon Definition -90% of Earth's continental crust       -Grew by addition of volcanic arcs       -Continents cooled and strengthened to become cratons Term Rodinia Definition 600Ma supercontinent Term 3 Phanerozoic Eras Definition -Paleozoic - ancient  -Mesozoic - middle       -Cenozoic - recent Term Cambrian Explosion Definition -Continents rifted and developed passive margins       -Rising seas flooded expanses of continental crust       -Rifting of Pannotia led to 4 large continental fragments Term Silurian and Devonian Definition -Silurian climate warmed and created greenhouse conditions       -Devonian: microcontinent Avalon was welded onto North America       -Created the Antler orogenic belt Term Silurian and Devonion Life Definition       -New species replaced those lost to extinction       -Land plants changed earth       -Fish rapidly evolved       -The first land animals followed plants       -The first amphibians appeared Term Carboniferous and Permian Life Definition -Dense tropical wetland hosted vegetation and giant insects       -Reptiles appeared for the first time Term End Paleozoic Extinction Definition -90% of all marine species disappeared             -Some believe a large impact Term Triassic Life Definition -First ancestors of mammals appear at Trassic -By end of Triassic, dinosaurs appeared! -Corals       -Gymnosperms       -Reptiles diversified     Term Jurassic Life Definition -By end of Jurassic, sauropods were abundant -First feathered birds Term Cretaceous paleogeography Definition -Climate warms and seas flood the continents       -Pangaea breaks up       -Uplifts in Colorado - Laramide orogeny, reverse faulting Term Cretaceous Life Definition -Fish appear       -Swimming reptiles       -Angiosperms appear       -Dino's reached evolutionary peak       -Mammals had larger brains and specialized teeth Term K-T Boundary Event Definition -Sudden mass extinction       -Dinosaurs gone, 90% plankton gone, 75% plant species vanished       -Catastrophic impact Term Paleogeography Definition -Final stages of breakup of Pangaea             -Climate has cooled Term Quaternary Period Definition -2Ma to present - cool climate       -Not the only ice age Term Cenozoic Life Definition -After K-T boundary, plant life is recovered       -Forests of angiosperms reappear       -Birds diversify and spread       -Known as age of mammals Term Humans Definition -Late Cenozoic humans first appeared       -First humanlike primate 4Ma       -First member of genes Homo appeared at 2.4Ma       -Modern humans appeared 150Ka Term The Geologic Time Scale Earliest to Most Recent Definition 1. Hadean 2. Archean 3. Proterozoic 4. Phanerozoic    -Paleozoic       -Cambrian       -Silurian       -Devonian    -Mesozoic       -Triassic       -Jurassic       -Cretaceous    -Cenozoic