| Hadean |
-4,57 Ga |
Collapse of an interstellar cloud in the center of which
the Sun formed in a mere 100 , 000 years.
|
| -4,56 Ga |
Formation of the planets of the Solar System.
The Earth came into existence in just a few tens of millions of years. |
| -4,5 Ga |
The Earth acquired an internal structure:
in the center, an iron core, surrounded by a silicate mantle.
The magnetic field generated by the motion of the metallic core
appeared for the first time.
The surface of the planet was a magma ocean.
|
| -4,4 Ga |
Water, initially in a gaseous state, condensed to form the oceans.
|
| -4,2 Ga |
The oldest known rocks, discovered in Canada.
|
| Archean |
-3,9 Ga-4,2 Ga |
The last heavy meteorite bombardment.
|
| -3,8 Ga |
Controversial traces of biological activity in rocks in Greenland.
|
| -3,5 Ga |
Oldest traces of suspected biological activity.
|
| -2,7 Ga |
Oldest confirmed stromatolites.
|
| Proterozoic |
-2,4 Ga |
Increasing levels of oxygen in the atmosphere
caused by the oxygenic photosynthetic activity of cyanobacteria.
|
| -2 Ga |
Possibly the first eukaryotic cells.
|
| Cambrian |
-540 Ma |
The Cambrian explosion: the rise of macroscopic diversity.
|