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Colorado
Hiking Jump
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Geologic Time and Events
| ERA | PERIOD |
Millions of yrs ago |
Some major
Colorado events |
| CENOZOIC | |||
| QUATERNARY | 2 | Holocene is the
term for the last 11,000 years - a warm inter-glacial epoch which has
allowed the rise of widespread agriculture and human civilization. Homo sapiens appear about 150,000 years ago Worldwide glacial advances and retreats over the 2 million years, in Colo, alpine glaciation modifies the mountainous areas, limited igneous activity in Colo, first humans (homo erectus) appear |
|
| TERTIARY | 65 | Mid-Tertiary regional uplift, igneous activity, continued major mineralization, gold, silver etc ores formed, major volcanic activity especially in the San Juan Mts area Laramide mountain building ends,
igneous activity, major mineralization, gold, silver etc ores formed |
|
| MESOZOIC | CRETACEOUS | 146 | Dinosaurs and some
other life forms go extinct, probably due to a large meteorite hitting
earth. Laramide mountain building starts in Colo, igneous activity, major mineralization, gold, silver etc ores formed
Dakota Fm deposited in Colo with dinosaur fossils and traces |
| JURASSIC | 208 | Morrison Fm.
deposited in Colo with dinosaur fossils and traces
First birds |
|
| TRIASSIC | 245 | First dinosaurs, first mammal | |
| PALEOZOIC | PERMIAN | 290 | 90 pct of species on earth
go extinct. Ancestral Rockies mountains largely leveled by erosion, many amphibians and reptiles. |
| PENNSYLVANIAN | 325 | Ancestral
Rockies mountain building in Colo, leads to erosion, and deposition of
red colored rock units First Reptiles |
|
| MISSISSIPPIAN | 365 | First winged insects | |
| DEVONIAN | 410 | First amphibians; diamond bearing kimberlite pipes emplaced in north central part of state. | |
| SILURIAN | 440 |
Silurian rocks missing in Colo w/ exception of blocks found in kimberlite pipes in north central part of state. First
jawed fishes |
|
| ORDOVICIAN | 510 | Plants appear on land. | |
| CAMBRIAN | 570 | First
fish
First multi-celled organisms with shells |
|
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PRECAMBRIAN
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| 4600 | Period of
stability and erosion in Colo
Intrusion of Pikes Pk Granite rocks (1 billion years) Intrusion of granitic rocks found in Colo (1.4 billion years) Intrusion of granitic rocks found in
Colo (1.7 billion years) First fossil traces of multi-cellular life First fossil traces of life on earth |
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