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What do we know about the natural history of planet Earth?
Our planet formed from dust left over when a massive cloud of cold dilute gas and dust condensed to form the Sun 4.6 billion years ago. The Moon formed from remnants of a collision between Orpheus and the Earth after the Great Iron Catastrophe formed the Earth's core. Our planet's surface was initially too hot to form a crust. Four billion years ago, the Earth was still heavily bombarded by a flux of extraterrestrial objects. Continents did not exist when the Earth first formed but grew over time.
Most of the water on Earth is in liquid oceans, but much of it has at times been buried in the land, vaporized into the atmosphere, or frozen solid. Life existed before DNA, proteins, chlorophyll, and rhodopsin evolved. The solar flux incident on the top of the atmosphere has increased by 40% over the history of the Earth. During the Proterozoic Era, photosynthetic bacteria helped remove most of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and released oxygen which was toxic to most bacteria at the time.
Eukaryotes evolved by serial endosymbiosis several times. Eukaryotes are masters of multicellularity whereas bacteria are masters of metabolic diversity. Plants and animals are relatively recent evolutionary developments. Invertebrates ventured out of the seas before vertebrates invaded the land. Whales and other marine mammals are recent additions to the oceans.
from MY
to MY
MYA Eraoceans
and atmosphere
solid Earth and Sun
molecules and cells
organisms and
ecosystems-300 -200 -4900-200 -100 -4800-100 0 -4700ZAMS 100 -4600100 200 -4500200 300 -4400300 400 -4300400 500 -4200500 600 -4100600 700 -4000700 800 -3900800 900 -3800900 1000 -37001000 1100 -36001100 1200 -35001200 1300 -34001300 1400 -33001400 1500 -32001500 1600 -31001600 1700 -30001700 1800 -29001800 1900 -28001900 2000 -27002000 2100 -26002100 2200 -25002200 2300 -24002300 2400 -23002400 2500 -22002500 2600 -21002600 2700 -20002700 2800 -19002800 2900 -18002900 3000 -17003000 3100 -16003100 3200 -15003200 3300 -14003300 3400 -13003400 3500 -12003500 3600 -11003600 3700 -10003700 3800 -9003800 3900 -8003900 4000 -7004000 4100 -6004100 4200 -5004200 4300 -4004300 4400 -3004400 4500 -2004500 4600 -1004600 4700 now
Phaner- ozoic
Pro
tero
zoic
The Natural History of Planet Earth Timeline: Five Billion Years of Solar and Global Evolution
Had
ean
Pre-Hadean
Arc
hae
anName ten or more
globally important eventsin any column.
Think about the W5H:whowhatwhenwherewhyhow
Emphasis onconnections not collections
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Solid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
100 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
000 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
-100 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
-200 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
-300 MY
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300 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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400 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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500 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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600 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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700 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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800 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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900 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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1000 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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1100 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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1200 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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1300 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
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1400 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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1500 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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1600 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
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1700 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
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1800 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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1900 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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Oceans and Atmosphere
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2000 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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2100 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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2200 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
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2300 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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2400 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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2500 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
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2600 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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2700 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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2800 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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2900 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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Oceans and Atmosphere
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3000 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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3100 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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3200 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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3300 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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3400 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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3500 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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3600 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
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3700 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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Oceans and Atmosphere
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3800 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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3900 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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4000 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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4100 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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4200 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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4300 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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4400 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere
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4500 MYSolid Earth and Sun
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4600 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
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4700 MYSolid Earth and Sun
Molecules and Cells Organisms and Ecosystems
Oceans and Atmosphere