Carboniferous Period
Ancient life
All surface rocks in Redmire were laid down during the Carboniferous Period, approximately 300 million years ago, in alternating shallow seas and river deltas. The location was tropical. Continental drift has moved the rock northwards since then. This page contains AI generated images that aim to present a generalised representation of life in those times.
Image detail
Slide 1: Tropical river and forest in the Carboniferous Period. AI generated image.
Slide 2: Crinoid in a shallow tropical sea during the Carboniferous Period. AI generated image.
Slide 3: Crinoid in a shallow tropical sea, with corals, during the Carboniferous Period. AI generated image.
Slide 4: Corals in a shallow tropical sea, with crinoid, during the Carboniferous Period. AI generated image.
Slide 5: Bryozoans filter feeding in a shallow tropical sea, during the Carboniferous Period. AI generated image.
Slide 6: Bryozoan in a shallow tropical sea, during the Carboniferous Period. Showing web-like structure. AI generated image.
Slide 7: Sponge in a shallow tropical sea during the Carboniferous Period. AI generated image.
Slide 8: Brachiopod in a shallow tropical sea during the Carboniferous Period. Showing open shell and filter feeding. AI generated image.
Geological time
It is considered that the earth formed about formed 4.6 billion years ago. Of this time, 88% is regared as being Pre-Cambrian as shown in orange in the bar below. The most recent 12% (or 541 million years) of earth's geological history is represented by the blue, red and yellow segments, collectively called the Phanerozoic Eon. Within the blue segment, or Palaeozoic Era, falls the Carboniferous Period. It was originally thought that multicellular life and fossils arose at the end of the Pre-Cambrian, but it is now known that complex life was well established by that time.
