geological history
Planet's rock record
Geological history is the record of Earth's physical changes over time—the formation and erosion of mountains, shifting of continents, rises and falls of sea levels, and succession of life forms preserved in rock layers.
Scientists reconstruct geological history by reading these layers like pages in a book: The canyon walls reveal 500 million years of geological history.
- continental driftGradual landmass repositioning
- tectonic platesMobile crustal sections
- Milankovitch cyclesOrbital shifts affecting climate
- volcanic activityGeological heat release
- sedimentary layersAccumulated geological deposits
fossil record · erosion · plate boundaries · fossilization · deep time · geologic time scale · unconformity · paleoecology · fault · dendrochronology · orogeny · facies · geochronology · mass extinctions · extinction events · petrified · radiometric dating · Cambrian
geological historyhuman history
Record of civilization's events
recorded history · modern era · contemporary history · current events · daily life
geological historyhuman history
Record of civilization's events
cultural history · political history · social history · economic history · biography