Earth through 4.6 billion years — geologic eras · drift · O₂ · extinctions

EARTH HISTORY SIMULATION

▸ Building the geologic axis: 4.54 billion years → now…

▸ Calibrating the geologic clock by radioactive isotopes

▸ Loading 7 eras: Hadean → Archean → … → Cenozoic

▸ Linking the atmospheric %O₂ curve (GOE ~2.4 billion)

▸ Marking the 5 mass extinctions + ice ages…

▸ Ready — Online. ✅

Geologic clock

⏳ Age of Earth

Time—

Atmospheric O₂—

Relative temperature—

Eon—

Event—

Viewing—

Selected—

Notes

Earth is ~4.54 billion years old. Free O₂ was near 0% for the first half of its history; only after the Great Oxidation (~2.4 billion) then the Cambrian Explosion did it rise to ~21% as today. The continents always drift & merge/split.

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Drag the scrub bar below the scene (or ▶/⏸) to travel through 4.54 billion years · click a "Scenario" to jump to a milestone · click an era / concept for details

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Atmospheric %O₂ over geologic time — rising in steps O₂ (% by volume)