iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Eon (geology)

For the Gnostic word, see aeon. For other uses, see eon (disambiguation).


In general usage, an eon (sometimes spelled aeon) is a period of time arbitrarily designated by humans. Geologists refer to an eon as the largest subdivision of time on the geologic time scale. For example, the Phanerozoic Eon, which is about 550 million years long, covers the period of time during which animals with hard shells that fossilize would have been abundant.

An eon is composed of several geologic eras, which in turn are composed of geologic periods, which are composed of geologic epochs. We are currently in the Phanerozoic Eon, the Cenozoic Era, the Quaternary Period, and the Holocene epoch. Formerly, only one eon existed besides the Phanerozoic: the Precambrian. More recently, the Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic "eras" of Precambrian time have been considered eons. The geologic timescale in terms of eons, eras, and periods looks like this:



Greek root

The English word eon is derived from the Koine Greek word aion.

Although a proposal was made in 1957 to define an aeon to be a unit of time equal to one billion years (1 Ga), the idea was not approved as a unit of scientific measure and is seldom used for a specific period of time. Its more common usage is for any lengthy or indefinite period of time. The origin is from the Greek root "aion" for "age" or "life force." A similar Latin word "aevum" for age is still present in words such as Longevity and medieval. [1]

aion Outline of Biblical Usage 1) for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity 2) the worlds, universe 3) period of time, age

See also

References

Gnosticism (from Greek gnōsis, knowledge) refers to a diverse, syncretistic religious movement consisting of various belief systems generally united in the teaching that humans are divine souls trapped in a material world created by an imperfect spirit, the demiurge,
..... Click the link for more information.
aeon, also spelled eon or æon, means "age," "forever," or "for eternity". It is derived from the koine Greek word αίων (aion), which at one point meant "age," "a period of existence" or "life".
..... Click the link for more information.
Eon may refer to:
  • Eon (geology), a period of geologic time
  • Eon (novel), a novel by Greg Bear
  • Eon (comics), a Marvel Comics cosmic entity
  • Eon (magazine), a magazine for players of EVE Online by CCP Games

..... Click the link for more information.
A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology, studying the physical structure and processes of the Earth and planets of the solar system (see planetary geology).
..... Click the link for more information.
The geological time scale is used by geologists and other scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred during the history of Earth.
..... Click the link for more information.
Phanerozoic (occasionally Phanaerozoic) Eon is the current eon in the geologic timescale, and the one during which abundant animal life has existed. It covers roughly 545 million years and goes back to the time when diverse hard-shelled animals first appeared.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled until (UTC) due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or
..... Click the link for more information.
For other uses of the term, see Fossil (disambiguation)


FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under the DOS operating system.
..... Click the link for more information.
A geologic era is a subdivision of geologic time that divides an Eon into smaller buckets. The Phanerozoic Eon is divided into three such timeframes: the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic represent the major stages in the macroscopic fossil record.
..... Click the link for more information.
A geologic period is a subdivision of geologic time that divides an era into smaller timeframes. The equivalent term used to demarcate rock layers and the fossil record is the system; thus the rocks of the Devonian System were laid down during the Devonian Period.
..... Click the link for more information.
The geological time scale is used by geologists and other scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred during the history of Earth.
..... Click the link for more information.
Phanerozoic (occasionally Phanaerozoic) Eon is the current eon in the geologic timescale, and the one during which abundant animal life has existed. It covers roughly 545 million years and goes back to the time when diverse hard-shelled animals first appeared.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Cenozoic Era (IPA pronunciation: [ˌsiːnəˈzəʊɪk]); sometimes Caenozoic Era or Cainozoic Era (in the United Kingdom), meaning "new life" (Greek
..... Click the link for more information.
Quaternary Period is the geologic time period from the end of the Pliocene Epoch roughly 1.806 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary includes 2 geologic subdivisions — the Pleistocene, including Gelasian that used to belong to Pliocene, and the Holocene
..... Click the link for more information.
The Holocene epoch is a geological period, which began approximately 11,550 calendar years BP (about 9600 BC) and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Neogene and Quaternary periods.
..... Click the link for more information.
Precambrian (Pre-Cambrian) is an informal name for the supereon comprising the eons of the geologic timescale that came before the current Phanerozoic eon. It spans from the formation of Earth around 4500 Ma (million years ago) to the evolution of abundant
..... Click the link for more information.
Hadean (IPA: /ˈheɪdiən/) is the geologic eon before the Archean. It started at Earth's formation about 4.6 billion years ago (4600 Ma), and ended roughly 3.
..... Click the link for more information.
Archean (IPA: /ɑːˈkiːən/, also spelled Archaean, formerly called the Archaeozoic (IPA:
..... Click the link for more information.
Proterozoic (IPA: /ˌprəʊt(ə)rəˈzəʊɪk/) is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The Proterozoic Eon extended from 2500 Ma to 542.
..... Click the link for more information.
Koine Greek (kini) (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek", or
..... Click the link for more information.
aeon, also spelled eon or æon, means "age," "forever," or "for eternity". It is derived from the koine Greek word αίων (aion), which at one point meant "age," "a period of existence" or "life".
..... Click the link for more information.
The geological time scale is used by geologists and other scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred during the history of Earth.
..... Click the link for more information.
The International Commission on Stratigraphy concerns itself with stratigraphy on a global scale. It is the largest scientific body within the International Union of Geological Sciences.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter