Mesoproterozoic
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| Supereon | Eon | Era | Period | Start Million years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phanerozoic | Palaeozoic | Cambrian | 0541 | |
| Precambrian | Proterozoic | Neoproterozoic | Ediacaran | 0635 |
| Cryogenian | 0850 | |||
| Tonian | 1000 | |||
| Mesoproterozoic | 1600 | |||
| Palaeoproterozoic | 2500 | |||
| Archaean | 4000 | |||
| Hadean | 4567 | |||
The Mesoproterozoic Era is a geologic era which lasted from 1,600 million years ago (mya) to 1,000 mya.
The major events of this era are:
- the breakup of the Columbia supercontinent ~1,500 mya;
- the assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent ~1,100 mya;
- the evolution of sexual reproduction.
Evidence of a eukaryotic red algae, Bangiomorpha pubescens, has been identified from ~1200 mya old rocks in the Hunting Formation (Somerset Island, Canada). This is the oldest known sexually reproducing organism and therefore the earliest known complex multicellular organism.[1]
References [change]
| Precambrian (4.567 gya – 541 mya) | |
|---|---|
| In the left column are Eons, bold are Eras, not bold are Periods. gya = billion years ago, mya = million years ago | |
| Hadean (4.567 gya – 4 gya) | |
| Archaean (4 gya – 2.5 gya) | |
| Proterozoic (4 gya – 2.5 gya) | Palaeoproterozoic (2.5 gya – 1.6 gya)
Mesoproterozoic (1.6 gya – 1 gya) Neoproterozoic (1 gya - 541 mya) Tonian (1 gya – 850 mya) Cryogenian (850 mya – 635 mya) Ediacaran (635 mya – 541 mya) |
| Source | International Chronostratigraphic Chart 2013. International Commission on Stratigraphy, retrieved 8 April 2013. Divisions of geologic time – major chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units USGS, retrieved 8 April 2013. |
