General Map and Geology Map

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.