NOTE: This post assumes no prior knowledge of Geology. ----- Scientists recently defined the new 'Meghalayan' age of the Earth's past, and it's (obviously) based on an Indian rock sample! To understand what this age is all about, we need a very brief introduction about the concept of GSSP s or more informally, the Golden Spike s. How we talk about the Earth's history The Earth is roughly 4.6 billion years old, and the vast history of the Earth is divided into various time intervals arranged in heirarchy. First, there are Eons , which are subdivided into various Eras , which are next subdivided into Periods , which are then subdivided into Epochs , which are finally subdivided into Ages. ( You may have guessed it right, that last subdivision is the 'Age' in the 'Meghalayan Age'.) To summarize the order of heirarchy: Eon → Era → Period → Epoch → Age Now the most famous example that people easily relate to is the Jurassic Period...
Comments
Post a Comment