Earth History and the Fossil Record

Course content

1. 1Principles of relative datingComing
2. 2Radiometric dating and the geologic time scaleComing
3. 3Fossils and how organisms are preservedComing
4. 4The early Earth: accretion, oceans and the first crustComing
5. 5The Archean and the origin of lifeComing
6. 6The Proterozoic: oxygen, supercontinents and Snowball EarthComing
7. 7The Cambrian explosion and Paleozoic seasComing
8. 8Life moves onto land: plants, tetrapods and coal forestsComing
9. 9Mass extinctions and their causesComing
10. 10The Mesozoic: dinosaurs, Pangaea and the Western Interior SeawayComing
11. 11The Cenozoic: mammals, mountains and ice agesComing
12. 12Capstone: the geologic history of North AmericaComing

Requirements

• EASC-101 Physical Geology: The Dynamic Earth

Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.

Description

How geologists reconstruct 4.5 billion years of Earth history from rocks, fossils and radiometric dates.

Part of the Science stream, typically taken in year 1.