Historical  Geology  42:161

History of the Earth

Introduction

• Earth is unique in the Solar System: it supported life

. Numerous earth-like planets in universe

. Our solar system is not a 1st generation (~ 2rd)

. Earth went through many stages: One life form gave rise to another by necessity (reasons like change in climate or a disaster that killed many life forms)

Rise in Intelligence with time

. One example is humans: size of brain increased as early humans worked hard to find food, planned a hunt, avoid predators or made tools

• There have been other forms of intelligent life before the humans appeared

• Examples are cephalopods (like squid today). By imitating them we build submarines. Another example is Velociraptor

Origin of LifeLife  almost  as  old  as  the  earth•Life  on  Earth  is  • marine in  origin  (we  see  that  in  newborn  babies,  can  swim  &  like  water,  also  like  climbing  trees  like  our  immediate  ancestors)Earliest  about  • 3.8  b.y.  old  in  the  seaLife  didn• ’t  move  onto  land  until  ~  400  m.y.  agoNeeded  enough  oxygen  as  well  as  the  protective  ozone  •layerPlants  moved  first•Animals  did  not  have  hard  parts  (skeletons)• -­‐ not  enough  O2  in  the  water

How  do  we  know  about  previous  life?

• Simple: remains of previous life incorporated into sediments after death

• The sediments formed rocks which contain remains of life as fossils

• Rocks with fossils exposed to the surface today

• Discovered by prospectors/geologists/other interested people

Invertebrates & Vertebrates

• First animals (without skeletons) rarely become fossils, mostly stationary on ocean floor

• Some decided to explore & acquired skeletons• First vertebrate was the fish• During Carboniferous, vast forests & swamps with

insects of tremendous size• Fish  stayed  at  water’s  edge  to  hunt  insects• Became part-time land animals = amphibians

Land looked attractive

• Lots of food• More oxygen to breath• Protection from ozone available• Less competition & no predators• Became permanent residents = reptiles• Some reptiles returned to the sea, because they  sniffed  ammonite  meat  &  couldn’t  pass  up such a treat

A Landmark event

Reptiles  were  the  • 1st 100  %  land  animal  to  appear  on  the  EarthIts  reproduction  (the  amniotic  egg)  method  •was  a  major  achievement  in  the  planet’s  historyMany  of  our  features  were  created  by  the  •dinosaurs  (such  as  chewing,  cuteness  of  babies,  warm  blood,  etc)

• Some colonized the skies by imitating the insects• Climate got cold, too hard for cold-blooded

animals• The dust from the asteroid collision & the

volcanoes that were created as a result finished most of the animals

• When the dust settled, there were only birds & mammals around

• This time the animals were warm-blooded and & could cope with a colder climate

Tree of Life

• Invertebrates Fish Amphibians reptiles mammals & birds

Animals to Humans

• Dried-up forests of Africa brought the chimps (99 % identical to humans) to the ground looking for food

• Difficult to survive without fast-moving legs• Required strategy of immense proportion –

i.e. bigger brain

Made  tools  &  fire:  a  dramatic  progress•Made  sounds,  communicate,  paint,  travel,  •make  a  spear,  make  a  boatBegin  to  wonder  about  the  earth,  religion,  •bury  the  deadReal  progress  in  intelligence•However,  now,  we  are  able  to  destroy  the  •whole  humanity  with  nuclear  weapons  

Bible  versus  Science

• Both tells us a similar story if you could read the initial text of the Bible– in ancient Greek

• (Ancient Hebrew text lost)• Some words have different meaning today, or

words have many different meanings depending on the subject in question

• The following from a publication of mine

Genesis (Bible) versus Science• “day”  or   verse Events in Events in Radiometric• stage in Genesis Science dates• Bible (in• billion/million• years ago)• ------- ------- ----------- ----------- ---------------• 1 Summary• 2 Unformed• matter• (water=protons)• First 3 Light Big Bang 13.7 b.y.• First photons, protons• 4,5 light divided• from darkness Atoms form ½ m.y. after Big• Bang• Last scattering• Second 6–8 firmament• separating waters Formation of stars/earth 4.6 b.y.• Creation of the earth

• Third 9,10 seas, land form Ocean, land 4.0 b..y.• 11–13 green plants,• trees, seeds First plants on ocean floor 3.8 b.y.•• Fourth 14–19 sun, moon,• stars The sun is visible• First photosynthesis 3.0 b.y.•• Fifth 20–23 living things• in water, First fish,insects ~ 400 m.y.• Flying creatures, etc•• Sixth 24, 25 all kinds of• living creatures First land animals ~ 300 m.y.• reptiles• 26–31 Humans First humans ~ 5 m.y.

It seems that someone is maintaining order from space

.  By  destroying  some  nuclear  weapons  

.  Their  messages  in  crop  circles and  lights  /  sounds  in  the  sky  are  amazing  when  studied

.  Demonstrations  of  energy  production  without  noise  &  poisonous  exhaust would  be  beneficial  if  adopted  my  humans

EVENTS  during  Earth’s  history

• It was all molten mantle to start with• Crust formed from slow cooling of the magma• Sea and atmosphere• Later, creation of the continents• Movement of the continents• Mountains, reefs, deserts, coal & oil deposits• Glaciations

UNIVERSE

• 13.7 b.y. old & undergoes accelerated expansion• Dark matter is 30 %: holds things together• Dark Energy is 65 %: causes expansion of

Universe to accelerate• All  visible  matter  (5  %)  doesn’t  have  enough  

gravity to stop the expansion• Cosmic microwave background radiation: echo

of the Big Bang (annoying hiss out of a communications antenna)

The Solar System

• One star: our Sun (= >99 % of mass)• Planets & their moons (used to be meteors)• Minor planets (Pluto & friends)• Meteors from the Asteroid Belt, all combined

together would form a small planet- but  didn’t• Comets from the outer reaches of solar

system

Distances  in  space

Pioneer  • 10  spacecraft  blasted  off  Mar.  1972Reached  Jupiter      at  • 15km/s                    Dec    1973Is  now  • 13  billion  km  awayPractically  the  edge  of  our  Solar  System•Is  aiming  for  star  • AldebaranIt  will  be  there  in  • 2  million  yearsOnly  item  that  will  outlast  Earth• -­‐ last  foreverEarth  will  be  a  Red  Giant  in  • 5  b.y.

Our Sun

• The Star : a nuclear factory• 2 Hydrogen atoms fuse to form Helium, lithium,  ………….  last  one  to  form  is  Iron

• The atoms bigger than iron created by supernovas

• Heaviest atom on Earth: Uranium• Therefore,  we  are  a  “at  least  twice  re-processed  material”  very  interesting  to  alien  visitors

Planets & their moons• Two groups of planets: • The Terrestrial & the Jovian (Jupiter-like)solid rock on surface gasescondensed at high Temp low tempvery dense low densityFe – Ni alloys & ices of water,silicates ammonia, methaneSmall Large

radiate more heat thanthey receive

Few moons Many moons

Mercury

• Weak magnetic field• Large solid core with thin mantle• Many meteorite craters• Some flood basalts• Some cracks due to cooling of rocks in the

interior• Revolves around the sun very fast

Venus  Brightest  object  in  the  sky•

• “Earth’s  twin”,  similar  size,  but  retrograde  rotationDense  clouds  of  CO• 2  with  sulfuric  acidThe  ultimate  greenhouse  effect  (from  greenhouse  •greenhouse  gases?  Polluted  air  with  car  exhausts,  like  humans  did  on  Earth?)Air  pressure  on  surface  =  • 90  X  Earth’sVery  strong  wind•Recent  volcanism•

Mars

• The  “Red  Planet”• Thin air with CO2, N2, no ozone. Most air

escaped into space. Before, the greenhouse effect allowed water on the surface

• Strong wind up to 450 km/h• Used to have stream channels• Iron regolith with 13 % Fe –iron oxides & clay• No organics in the soil

• Volcanic rocks ~ 50 % of surface• Olympus Mons volcano ~ 22 km high• Polar ice caps with CO2 ice• Landslides, craters & rift valleys• No surface tectonism now

Ice caps prominent

Mars  “blueberries”

Second  highest  mountain  in  the  Solar  System:  Olympus  Mons  –~22  km  high

Multiple  craters

mysterious

Hematite nodule: formed in water

Has to be sedimentary rocks

Weathering?

Layers of sedimentary rocks, at least partly

Barchan dunes

Wind  storm

Desert-­‐like

Jovian planets

• Small metal-silicate core• Mantle with liquid metal, ice of water,

methane & ammonia• No firm surface• Thick clouds rich in Hydrogen, water

snowflakes & ammonia snowflakes• Colors due to sulfur, phosphorus

Moons of Jupiter, more interesting to us, because of possible life

• Callisto: weak crust of ice + rockmantle of water or water iceno relief

. Ganymede: Craters & mountain ridges

. Europa: crust of ice, watery mantle“cracked  eggshell” plate tectonics

The largest ocean in the Solar system~ 100 km deep

Callisto

Ganymede

Europa:  ice  over  biggest  ocean

Io

• Sulfur-rich crust with molten sulfur mantle• Most geologically active in solar system• Active volcanoes• No craters• Brilliant yellow, red & brown• Heat from tides of Jupiter

Io: active volcanoes

Other moons

Enceladus: water under its ice?

Titan: atmosphere & surface lakes

From  Titan

Our  Moon• Receding 5 cm per century as predicted by tidal theory• New Moon Blast Theory, 4 b.y. ago• A Mars-size body hit earth at 50 km/sec. It set the

stage for ocean tides & reproduction• Evidence moon was closer: a Devonian coral had 3

ridges /year, so lunar month was 1 ½ day shorter• Enough  debris  ejected  from  Earth’s  outer  layers  (low  in  

Fe) to form the moon• Its movement is moderated (synchronized) so that its

rotation period is the same as orbital period (27.3 days)

• No atmosphere (gravity force is too low to keep the air)

• Surface: “Highlands”            & “Seas”  (dark areas)older rocks younger rocks4 – 4.6 b.y 3 – 3.9 b.y.anorthosite basalt

. Soil: fragmentation of surface rock by meteors20 m deep

. No hydrous minerals (clays, micas, amphibole)

• No water• Chemistry: high in titanium

low in Fe, K, volatiles. Very thick lithosphere, cannot have plates. No magnetic field. Moonquakes : weak up to Richter 2.    Density  =  3.34  (Earth’s  is  5.52)

Meteorites

• “Stony”:  silicates  of  Fe,  Mg        like  our  “mantle”olivines,  pyroxenes

.    “Irons”  :  Fe  &  Ni  alloys                              like  our  “core”

.    Carbonaceous  chondrites:  carbonates,  water,sulfates,  volatiles  – both  high  &  lowtemp.  minerals:  could  not  haveformed  together,  primitive  solarsystem  material  (not  melted)

Falling  stars,  shooting  stars,  fireballs,  thunderstones

• Travel very fast: 11 -70 km/sec• Burn up by friction with air molecules, so they

have a black crust, may fragment before hitting  earth’s  surface

• Expelled from the Asteroid Belt by collisions• Fast collisions make craters, largest at

Sudbury, 260 km across, 1.8 b.y. old• Manitoba’s  largest  at  Gypsumville, 40 km wide

• Largest recovered the Hoba Iron, S.Africaweighs 66 tons

• Down to micrometeorites• The one responsible for the dinosaur demise was  10  km  big  &  caused  an  “atmospheric  blow-out”  disaster

• People watch out for Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) whose orbits may coincide with ours

• Aug.’72  “near  miss”  filmed  over  Wyoming

“Falls”  v.  “Finds”

• To see & recover a meteor is rare• More frequently, one can find them in deserts

or in Antarctica (frozen desert) or with a metal detector

• About  75  “finds”  in  Canada• Finds named after nearest locality & owned by

the finder (who can lease them to a museum)

See  Urals• ’  meteorite,  Febr.15,  2013Also  • youtube videos

Shatter  cones  at  Gypsumville crater  found  last  week

Some meteorites / craters – in handouts

-Tagish meteorite, Yukon, 2001: the most rare ever

-Willamette,  USA’s  biggest  brought  to  the  States  by a glacier!

-Meteor crater, Arizona: best example of a crater-Manicouagan:  the  “eye  of  Quebec”,  4th largest-New Quebec crater, perfectly circular lake-Peekskill meteorite broke her car in NY

• The Sikhote Alin, Russia 1947: largest meteorite fall in history

• Two volunteer astronomers spotting meteors/comets

• Earth Impacts at a glance – red dots on the map

• The meteor that killed the dinosaurs - poster

Comets (person with long hair)

• The comet of 79 was blamed for eruption of Vesuvius & destruction of Pompeii

• Halley’s comet of 1066 was hanging in the sky for 2  months  &  “  favored”  the  victorious  French  at  the battle of Hastings

• In 1665 responsible for the Black Plague• Influenza or flu was attributed to a passing comet• Hale-Bopp  in  1997:  39  members  of  the  Heaven’s  Gate  cult  in  Calif.  committed  suicide  to  “take  a  ride”  on  the  comet.  Did  they?

“frozen  mudballs”,  “dirty  snowballs”

Hale• -­‐Bopp  was  unusually  bright  &  the  farthest  comet  ever  discovered  by  amateursOriginated  from  • Oort Cloud,  place  of  1  trillion  comets  waiting  to  be  disturbedMain  body  • 15-­‐20  km,  usually  peanut-­‐shaped  with  long  tail  (coma)  ~300  million  km  longSpeed  of  • 60  km/sec

Coma

• 2 comas point away from the sun, top is dust & bottom is ionized gases

• Solar Wind vaporizes the ice & jets of water vapor & gases hoot out from the colder depths or cracks

• Comet’s  fate  is  to  crust  over  &  suffocate  becoming like a meteor

• Rich in hydrocarbons, aminoacids & organic molecules

Nucleus of a comet

1994 crash on Jupiter

• Comet broke apart into 22 fragments as it passed Jupiter on its way to the sun

• Their orbits were predicted to crash on Jupiter a year later & all telescopes were looking when they created huge explosions bigger than the Earth

• If Jupiter is hit, it is possible Earth may get hit in the future

What  does  it  represent?

Primitive  building  blocks  of  the  solar  system•• “time  capsules”  of  4.5  b.y.  agoBalls  of  ice  &  dust  that  did  not  get  •incorporated  into  planetsMany  probes  sent  to  sample  the  coma  &  take  •pictures  of  the  nucleus

Tunguska, 30 June, 1908

• Largest explosion of the century & also the mystery of the century

• Fireball from the SE, leaving a trail of light 800 km, descending & shattered with cataclysmic explosions

• Tremendous noise, heard 1000 km away• Explosion 7.6 km up, like 2000 atomic bombs• Mass of 100,000 tons

• Magnetic storms & tremors recorded in Moscow

• “sky  split  apart”  &  great  fire  appeared• People blown over 6 m• Unusually colorful sunsets & sunrises

continued for weeks worldwide. Bright enough at night to read a newspaper

• First scientists arrived in 1927

On the ground

• 2000 km2 forest burned with radial tree-fall pattern

• Biological mutations & genetic abnormalities in trees / insects – suggest nuclear event?

• Some cosmic globules recovered made of Ca, Fe-Ni, silicates, Co-W, Pb

• It was like a nuclear blast• The  “thing”  went  back  into  space,  10  km  large

Mystery  problems

Many  favor  a  comet  causing  it•No  mushroom  cloud,  therefore  not  a  nuclear  •explosion  (as  we  know  it)A  meteor  /  comet  cannot  cause  a  •geomagnetic  stormIn  • 1959  Russians  reported  radiation  on  the  site,  this  suggests  extra-­‐terrestrial  originExplosion  of  a  nuclear  engine  entering  our  •atmosphere  (it  came  at  too  shallow  angle)

Video on Tunguska

Long term results

• People started thinking about space• Russians started the space exploration

program (if someone came from space, we should go out and find out)

• The USA followed soon enough• The UFO era started in 1947, but has increased  tremendously  since  1990’s  

Comet on Jupiter 1994

Fireball 2008, Alb /Sask border

The  Buzzard  Coullee meteor  fall

TELLING TIME

• Earth takes 365 days to orbit around the sun, but it slows down

It loses ½ sec in 100 yearsor 5 days in 100 m.y.

in 7 b.y. it will grind to a haltHowever, the Sun will explode in 5 b.y.

BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

• Our bodies are regulated by slight pull from the moon

• The 28-lunar month -24.9 hours for a lunar day- affects mostly females, their hormonal cycle

• Also the blind & those in polar winters (dark) follow the 24.9 hour clock acc. to the moon rise and fall

• Tides also follow moon rise & fall

ABSOLUTE DATING

• Many clocks were tried in the past to find the age of the earth

.  1600’s      Bishop  Ussher      bible/counting  generations        4004  BC  Oct  26  9am

.Mayas 3114 BC – 2012 AD

.  1800’s  George  Buffon              cooling  of  iron  spheres                                          75,000  years

.  Late  1800’s  Lord  Kelvin          cooling  of  molten  rock                                  20  – 40 m.y

. 1899 John Joly salinity of the oceans 100 m.y.

.  Early  1900’s    Madame  Currie        radioactive  decay                                              4.6    b.y.

. today more than 40 radiometric methods no change

The  NAMES  we  use• “month”  from    “moon”                                                            (French  name)

Monday                                                  • moon LundiTuesday              (• Tiw’s)            Mars MardiWednesday  (• Woden)    Mercury MercrediThursday          (Thor)            • Jupiter                                        JeudiFriday                    (Freya• ’s)      Venus VendrediSaturday                                              • Saturn SamediSunday                                                    • Sun Dimanche

William  Smith,  “strata  man”

• “Discovered  earth’s  strata  on  company  time”• Canal surveyor, a misunderstood genius• Compiled a complete geological map of

England & Wales based on fossils, published in 1815

• 9 Laws (principles) of Stratigraphy

Bedding in sedimentary rocks

Geological fault

• 1. the principle of Superposition• 2.    ‘                    ‘                      ‘      Original  Horizontality• 3.    ‘                    ‘                    ‘    Original  Continuity• 4. Cross-cutting Relation• 5. Inclusion: a rock fragment is older than the

rock that surrounds it• 6. Metamorphism

3  principles  on  fossils

• 7.  Faunal  Assemblage  :  unique  to  an  interval  of  time

• 8.  Faunal  Succession:  Life  changes  with  time• 9.  Correlation:  Same  assemblage  of  life  means  same  age

Explanations of Laws

• 1. younger layers on top & progressively older downwards

• 2/3. since sediments laid down in the shallow ocean, the layers are originally horizontal and continuous

• 4. If layers are disrupted / offset by a fault, the fault came afterwards

• 5. Inclusion could be a fossil. The animal is older than the rock it is found in

• 6. Metamorphism is later, it affected a previously un-metamorphosed rock

• 7. The group of fossils in a layer is unique (like the composition of our class)

• 8. Vertically layers have different groups of fossils

• 9. Comparing fossil assemblages from one area to another, if you find same fossils, it must be the same age

Unconformity

• An interruption in the geologic record (like pages missing from a book)

• Rocks missing because the area was dry land & erosion of exposed rocks took place and nothing was deposited

Hutton’s  unconformity  in  Scotland

Radiometric  Dating

Radioactive decay

• Can be compared to an hourglass• Radioactive elements give off:-alpha particles: 2 neutrons + 2 protons can be

stopped by a piece of paper- beta  particles:  electrons          can’t  go  through  

skin- gamma radiation: extremely powerful (more

powerful than X rays)

• When an igneous rock crystallizes from the liquid state, a large variety of chemical elements  are  “frozen”  into  the  host  minerals  of the rock

• Some of these elements are unstable & their atoms spontaneously change into other atoms (daughter atoms or isotopes) through the process of radioactive decay

Rate of decay

• Is constant• Measure amount of daughter element and parent

element to find age of rock• For uranium, the daughter product is lead• About 20 radioactive elements exist, most decay

extremely slowly• Only 4 radioactive isotopes useful for dating• Potassium -40, rubidium – 87, uranium – 235 &

uranium - 238

There  is  a  mineral  called  “Zircon”

Minerals  with  uranium  are  very  rare•However,  minerals  with  uranium  in  trace  •quantities  are  commonBecause  of  its  excellent  stability,  zircon  is  •found  in  certain  rocks  that  formed  throughout  Earth’s  historyExcellent  for  the  uranium  /  lead  method  in  •geochronology  

Carbon 14 method of age datinghalf life = 5,730 years

• For specimens younger than 70,000 years• Can date formerly living material• The C 14 clock starts ticking when an organism

dies & is no longer taking C from the environment

• C 14 is produced in the air by bombardment of cosmic rays which turn a certain proportion of N 14 into radioactive C 14

• All organisms take in C 14 with the carbon they use for energy, at a ratio of about 1 in a trillion

• Once it dies, the C 14 begins to decay

Tree ring dating

Back  to  • 14,000  years

How  old  ?  Nat.  Geog.  Sept  2001

• Hubble Constant: galaxies move away from each other at speeds that increase proportionally with distance

• Quasars & galaxies speed off, & their light that they emit lowers in frequency & shifts towards the red end of the spectrum

• Fortunately, nature has created the perfect clock for geologists: Zircons are  God’s  gift  to  geochemistry

Examples of dates

• Grand Canyon: bottom layer 2 b.y.top layer 250 m.y.

. Carving of the canyon started about 5 – 6 m.y. ago

.The Pyramid in Egypt: 4,440 years old ? From the alignment of pyramids with 2 polar stars visible at the time

. Saber Tooth Cat skull: 12,000 years old by C14

. The Shroud of Turin: 610 -740 years old by C14

Geological Time Scale

New  proposal  for  “Anthropocene”

• Man has created new planetary era• We have left a distinctive footprint on the Earth’s  surface  through  carbon  pollution,  nuclear fallout, urbanization, etc

• Since the Industrial Revolution human modification of the system is so great we need to recognize it (keeping with geologic traditions)

The  Precambrian

Cambria• :  ancient  name  for  Wales,  U.K.Where  they  found  oldest  fossils  a  long  time  •agoThey  thought  there  was  no  life  before  then•However,  since  then  evidence  of  microscopic  •life  forms  plus  soft-­‐bodied  creatures  emergedOne  can  say  that  Precambrian  is  the  • Age  of  Bacteria  

The PRECAMBRIAN –lasted 21 hours of a day

• Archean 4.0 – 2.5 b.y.

• Superior Province

Proterozoic 2.5b.y.—542 m.y.

. Churchill Province

Precambrian scenery

4.0  b.y.  ago:  collision

Mars• -­‐size  asteroid  (500  km  big)Experiments  done  (video)•Problem  was  HEAT  generated  by  the  impact•Evaporated  all  oceans•Still  life  survived•

Conditions then

• Hot temperatures, molten mantle on surface, lots of volcanoes

• No oxygen in the air• Atmosphere: methane, ammonia, hydrogen• Oldest part of every continent called a SHIELD,

because it has that shape in section• No magnetic field (need solid iron moving in

the core)

• The Canadian Shield has the largest exposure in the world – some parts are covered by later formations

• Shields are made up of many parts amalgamated together by collisions

• The margins of the shield are covered by later sedimentary rocks when they were submerged by the sea. These are called Platform areas. In Manitoba they cover the NE & SW corners

SHIELDS

• Made up of two parts: Granite / gneiss & greenstone belts

• Granite/ gneiss formed under the mountains• Volcanic & sedimentary rocks make up the

greenstone belts. Their color is due to the abundant mineral chlorite. They may contain mineral deposits that formed along rifts

• North America was part of Laurentia that also included Greenland & Northern Europe

Mountain  Belts

Events  in  the  Archean

• Early: volcanoes, island arcs, mid-ocean rifts• Late: mountains from collision of volcanic

belts, granite, gneiss, metals• 10 hours in a day• All rocks completely deformed, rare fossils• Surface: hot, molten, lots of volcanoes• No magnetic field• UV radiation, moon was closer, strong tides

• No crust to start with - evidence from meteorites

• It took 0.5 b.y. to form some crust• High heat flow as the crust is thin. As it gets

thicker, heat is trapped inside the earth. Released by plate tectonic processes

• First Ice Age in lake Huron (2.5 b.y.)• How Ice Age can start: too much sulfur

dioxide in the air (it blocks the sunlight)

Events of the Proterozoic

• In Manitoba: Trans Hudson Mountains (THO)• The  tallest  in  Earth’s  History  (15  – 20 km high)• We know because the metamorphic minerals

on the surface today (such as garnet) formed under the earth at depths of 15-20 km

• Lynn Lake, Flin Flon, Snow Lake: metals from black smokers in mid-ocean rifts – copper, zinc, nickel with some gold / silver

Supercontinent  • Rodinia formed  1.3  b.y.  &  broke  apart  750  m.y.Snowball  Earth• :  800  – 650  m.y.  Too  much  • sulfur dioxide in  the  air  probably  created  itWith  time  • carbon  dioxide  was  produced  under  the  ice  and  eventually  broke  through  the  ice  and  raised  the  temperature  of  the  airThat  is  how  the  Ice  Age  ended•

IRON

• Was dissolved in the sea making the water red• When oxygen became available from bacteria,

iron turned into oxide (magnetite) and was deposited on the ocean floor, like a sediment

• This was the Banded Iron Formation (BIF)• Deposited between 2.5 b.y to 1.75 b.y. ago• Never formed again since• Today, it is the source of iron

IRON

• Since that time iron is produced by weathering on land and gets oxidized into hematite (rust). The result is rocks stained red

• So  we  have  the  “Red Beds”  forming  ever  since  instead of BIF

Rodinia, 1.1 b.y. ago

Snowball Earth

Iron Formation

BIF

LIMESTONE

• CO2 also caused limestone to form for the first time (it forms in warm, shallow seas)

• Limestone trapped CO2 from the air and prevented Earth from spiraling into a never-ending  greenhouse  inferno  like  Venus’s

• Explosion of Life soon after Snowball Earth

Unique rocks

• Because Earth was bare of soil & trees (only trees keep the soil in place) the sediments were made of pure quartz (good for making glass)

• Greywacke, made up mostly of clay & sand, formed in submarine slides (due to its clay content). It never formed since

Precambrian Metal deposits

• Iron – most  of  the  world’s• Nickel – most  of  the  world’s• Uranium – most  of  the  world’s• Copper – zinc• Gold, silver – a  big  part  of  the  world’s• Titanium (Cross Lake)• Platinum – all  of  the  world’s• Pegmatites with lithium, cesium, beryllium,

tantalum

Gold: exceptional properties

One  of  the  • noblemetals  (resists  chemical  action,  does  not  tarnish  in  air/water)Only  soluble  in  aqua  • regiaCan  be  alloyed  with  silver  (electrum)  &  •mercury  (amalgam)100  • %  pure  known  as  24  carats,  but  is  softMalleability• :  31  gr (1  oz)  can  be  drawn  into  a  wire  more  than  100  km  long

• Will make a perfect frying pan (no metal smell in food)

• Excellent conductor of heat / electricity• Reflects IR light efficiently – used in office

windows (only need a very small amount)• Extremely small amounts in perfume bottles,

but it looks like a lot• If you see a small speck underground, you

think it is as bright as the sun!

Copper (name from Cyprus)

• Conductor of heat & electricity• Used in alloys such as brass / bronze• Also needed in the living in trace amounts

Nickel

• Alloy with iron, stainless steel (no rust)• In loonie coins (that is why they created the coin,  to  use  up  Canada’s  nickel  production  when price was very low)

• Last time nickel was used in coins was by the ancient Greek kings in Afghanistan 200 years BC. They took the art of making nickel coins from the Chinese in exchange for method of making fortifications of cities (Wall of China)

Zinc

Used  mostly  in  galvanizing  iron  (for  example,  •nails  have  a  whitish  zinc  coat  so  that  they  will  not  rust)

Beryllium

• Light in weight• For aerospace industry• satellites

Lithium

• The lightest metal• Mostly used in batteries (electric cars will use

these when they will be in production)• A lithium mine in Manitoba, one of few in the

world

Tantalum

• Chemically inert• For capacitors in computers / mobile phones• For bone repairs

Precambrian  Life

• Ingredients of life may have come by comets & some meteorites that contain aminoacids

• Bacteria was the first & is the most abundant organism on Earth

• 3.8 b.y. Sulfur bacteria: oldest fossil. It forms in sulfur springs & black smokers. Breaks down S compounds from volcanoes to get the energy -chemosynthesis

Black smokers

Chemosynthesis

• Fist form of life on earth• Found  along  ocean’s  rifts  where  black  smokers  

accompany the extrusion of basaltic lava• Clouds of superheated steam at ~ 400 degrees

C charged with metals & hydrogen sulfide• Source of energy is the oxidation of sulfur

compounds• Basis of food chain is bacteria

Bacteria  metabolize  sulfur  gas•Giant  invertebrates  like  blind  crabs,  • 30  cm  long  worms,  60  cm  clams  &  2  m long  blood-­‐red  tubeworms  (have  no  mouth  or  stomach,  bacteria  live  in  their  interior  sac,  they  shoot  minute  stinging  tentacles  into  the  current  to  capture  food)Abundant  food  gives  rise  to  • GiantismAll  live  short  lives  &  reach  maturity  • 500  X  faster  than  in  shallow  water  

Tubeworms

• Are like giant lipsticks• Tube is made of chitin• Symbiotic with bacteria• Bacteria metabolize H2S to produce

carbohydrates energy • H2S gas is toxic to life on land

Fossil black smokers

• Today, represented by accumulation of metal sulfides of copper, nickel, zinc with gold, silver & also graphite (from organic remains of plants/animals)

• Examples in Manitoba are in Thompson, FlinFlon, Snow Lake, Lynn Lake & Leaf Rapids

First photosynthesisCO2 + H2O sugars + O2

Blue• -­‐green  algae  (cyanobacteria)  fossils  3.0  b.y.  oldBuilt  • stromatolites,  cabbage-­‐like  mounds  on  the  sea  floor  (still  do  that  today)Some  of  the  first  oxygen  produced  used  to  •precipitate  the  iron  in  the  sea  to  form  BIFAfter  that,  oxygen  released  into  the  air  &  •killed  other  types  of  bacteria  (“Gas  Attack”  ~  3  b.y.)

Shark  Bay,  Australia

Stromatolites:  Earth’s  First  Fossils

Video

• “Life  from  the  Sea”

1.5 b.y. ago

Dramatic  increase  in  size  of  micro• -­‐organismsBacteria  combined  with  a  nucleus  bacteria  to  •form  a  co-­‐op   first  single-­‐cell  animalThese  animals  incorporated  • cyanobacteria to  form  the  first  single-­‐cell  plantsEarliest  cells  were  prokaryotes  (no  nucleus),  •reproduction  by  division

Later, eukaryotes (nucleus to protect organs from oxygen)

• The invention of sexual reproduction, a definite speed up of evolution. Increases VARIATION among individuals

Multicellar animals from 750 m.y.

• Each cell has specific function (tissue, organs)• The first animals were soft-bodied, left

impressions as carbon films in rock by the process of distillation (carbonation)

• Ediacaran Fauna: from 600 – 542 m.y.• Early forms had to make their own food (use

sulfur compounds, sunlight & break down sugars)

Burgess Shale

• Later invention was to eat another organism –only need to break it down with the help of oxygen

• This is the first PREDATOR• In the Burgess Shale Fauna the predator was

difficult to identify. It was called Anomalocaris• This Fauna was part of the “Cambrian  Explosion”, all phyla evolved at once, then, nothing else since

Burgess Shale Fauna: World Heritage site

520  • m.y.  old,  extends  for  20  km  along  a  side  of  a  mountain,  near  Field,  BCFound  by  Walcott,  • 1909,  2,300  m altitudeThe  world• ’s  most  significant  fossil  findUnusually  diverse  fauna  of  soft  body  animals•Ancestors  of  invertebrates,  even  an  ancestor  of  •all  vertebrates  – PikaiaAll  known  phyla  of  invertebrates  are  represented  •plus  some  others  who  did  not  survive

Pikaia:  ancestor  of  all  vertebrates

Hallucigenia (wrong way up)

Right way up

• Excellent preservation in fine mud. Deep water environment below a shallow water algal reef

• Mudflows carried animals over the reef, killing them & burying them in mud

• Details like muscles, gut, fins, spines• 200,000 fossils recovered• It is an extraordinary buried treasure, the

animals have NO BONES

Philosophers have debated

Many  questions  are  raised  here:  how  are  body  •plans  constructed  &  how  new  phyla  emerge?Two  kinds  of  opinions•Stephen  Jay  Gould• :  proposed  the  Marxist  view  that  Human  is  an  accident  (in  evolution).  His  book,  “Wonderful  Life”,  1989  was  a  best  sellerSimon  Morris• :  proposed  the  Christian  view,  that  Intelligence  will  always  come  in  the  end

assemblage

Anomalocaris: First PREDATOR

Walcott quarry

History of Life & Fossilization

• Life started about 4 b.y. ago & until 400 m.y. ago was entirely in the OCEAN

• No life was possible on land due to bombardment of UV radiation from the sun

• As soon as the level of oxygen in the air was ~ 10 %, the ozone layer started forming, which blocked the uv

Onto the land

First  to  conquer  the  land  was  the  plants•Then  the  insects,  which  could  decompose  the  •plantsFinally,  the  fish  who  could  avail  of  the  •abundant  insect  food  on  land

Animals

• Invertebrates• Have external skeletons• First abundant animal

life on Earth• Their fossils are so

numerous & essential to  make  up  the  Earth’s  History

• Vertebrates• Internal skeletons• An invention to TRAVEL

& look for food elsewhere

• Fish was the first vertebrate animal

The Invertebrates

• 9 phyla or groups – all possible structures that nature could produce

• Protozoa : have single cell- foraminifera have built the pyramids & responsible for oil/gas deposits

• Porifera (sponges) : are primitive• Coelenterata: the corals• Bryozoa : moss-like animals• Brachiopods : ancient clams, stationary on the

ocean floor

• Molluscs: 3 subgroups- gastropods (snails), pelecypods (modern clams) & cephalopods (squids, octopus)

• Echinoids : 5-fold symmetry• Arthropods: trilobites, today mostly insects• Graptolites: extinct plankton

Size  of  Life  forms

From  microscopic•Examples:•Diatoms  (plants  produce  •¼  of  our  oxygen)Foraminifera•Radiolaria•Bacteria:  every  time  we  •wash  our  hands,  we  get  rid  of  25  million  bacteria

• To monsters • Examples:• Giant squid, 8 m long• Dinosaurs 30 m long• Marine reptiles 13 m long

Fossilization

• Living things have soft parts (decomposed by bacteria) & hard parts that can be preserved (usually made of calcite that reacts with the acid)

• For preservation it is necessary to be buried in sediment

• In unusual circumstances even soft parts can be preserved – like the Burgess Shale of deep water environment

Unaltered preservation

• 1. In ice -Iceman in the Alps- 5,300 years ago(in the Bronze Age)

- Iceman in BC – 500 years old- Frozen mammoths in Siberia, also in

Canada, but ice has melted, onlytusks can be found

Unaltered  

• 2. mummies - in Egypt (dry climate)- in Peru mountaintops,

sacrificed maidens

.3. in amber trapped insect by the sticky-ness, attracted by smell. Resin polymerized when fossilized

Inca mummie

• 4. tar pits Los Angeles La Brea. Cenozoic with animals as old as 30,000 years

• 5. bogs, swamps Denmark: body with rope around head from about 100 BC. In his intestines were seeds with disease that made him behave with mental problem - doped

La Brea tar pits, Los Angeles

The  Bog  man

Altered

• 1. opal• 2. petrified wood – silicified & permineralized.

molecule by moleculeSouris, Manitoba

. 3. pyrite in shells

Methods of alteration

• Permineralized: cavities filled-in in teeth & bones. Much heavier than original

• Distillation / carbonation : plants & insects, only carbon left, black in color

• Impression: casts (internal) & molds (external)only shape preserved, skeleton dissolved

. Trace fossils: evidence that organism was there- footprints, burrows, borings, coprolites, gastroliths

The Iceman

• Found in 1991 in the Alps• World’s  most  ancient  intact  human• 46 years old, 1.6 m tall, 50 kg weight• Tatoos on lower spine, ankles, knees, normally

covered by clothing, not for show off • Hair cut• Body brown & dried out, mummified naturally• Trapped in ice at 98% humidity & - 6  ‘C  (like  our  

freezer)

• Leather shoes were straw –insulated• Cap of brown bear fur• Wooden backpack with copper ax, stone

dagger, bow from yew tree (the best in Europe), leather quiver with 14 arrows- flint points & feather- & an arrow repair kit

• Food: berries & mushroom with infection-fighting properties

After thorough investigation

• Killed by a flint arrowhead in an area with blood vessels, shot from behind

• Deep wound in right hand, so he had hand-to-hand armed combat

• Arthritic & infested with whipworm. Seriously ill 3 times in last several months

• Cu, As in his hair: involved in copper smelting• Surprised investigators that he recently ate

cereals & ibex meat (a real feast!)

Amber : name means electron

• “gold  of  the  north”  :  Baltic• Fossilized resin (burn: incense)• As old as Carboniferous up to Pleistocene• Most common in Cretaceous, Tertiary &

Quaternary

Occurrences

With  lignite  beds•Coal  beds•Sandstones•Clay  • shalesIn  Manitoba:  Cedar  Lake,  excavated  by  Sask.  •River  along  its  course

Uses  

• For varnish & lacquers• Burned as incense to dispel evil spirits &

fumigate against mosquito (beware: the burning should be done indirectly)

• Sailors to drive away sea serpents• Applied to violins• Removes lint from clothing• Jewelry & rosary beads

Beware

• Hairsprays & perfumes will make a whitish coat that may be permanent

• Kitchen substances or sources of heat will damage it

Opal

• Hydrated silica. Water content varies, so is the color

• Iridescent: rainbow effect from reflection / refraction of light as it passes through

• Forms in volcanic areas• Hot groundwater seeps through replacing

wood by hydrated silica as spheres• It is the alignment of these spheres in a bath

of silica solution that creates the iridescence

Deposits

Coober  Pedy,  Southern  Australia•E.  Slovakia  is  the  original  site  since  the  Roman  •timesHonduras•Mexico•

Lab  on  Fossils

Lab on Fossils: some conclusions

• “Scuba  diving”:  is  to  admire  bright  colors  of  the living invertebrates

• People who live by the sea paint their houses with these colors

• The invertebrates produce these COLORS:- certain clams, oysters produce purple(symbol of royalty) & red – also known as porphyry- (symbol of the Byzantine Emperors) also, the hierarchy in the Andes

- squid produces black ink (to confuse predators)

----plane of symmetry of animals & humans----You can eat inside of invertebrates raw (but

beware of pollution today)----Clam shells found to clean water from

pollution (student project in Nova Scotia)

Suture  in  ammonites• :  how  soft  parts  are  attached  to  the  skeleton.  The  shorter  the  suture  line,  the  easier  to  get  eaten.  So,  the  ammonites  were  intelligent,  because  they  made  their  suture  much  longer,  so  they  could  survive  from  predators

• The ammonite skeleton also has inter-connected chambers where air is passed along. The more air, the higher it climbs in the water. The less air, the deeper it can go.

• This  mechanism  was  “borrowed”  by  humans  to make submarines.

Sea shells: symbol of Australia

Ages

• Precambrian Age of bacteria• Paleozoic = old life Age of invertebrates• Mesozoic = middle life Age of Reptiles• Cenozoic = recent life Age of Mammals

The PALEOZOIC : summary of main events542 – 250 m.y.

• Lots of shallow water (snowball had melted)• Appalachians in North America formed• Continents drift & combine to form Pangea• Unique environment in the Carboniferous:

immense tropical forests that turned into coal• Widespread deserts in the Permian• Skeletons formed (there was enough oxygen)

• “Explosion”  of invertebrates (Cambrian explosion)

• First fish, first amphibian, first reptile• Land plants, insects• Largest  Mass  Extinction  on  record  (“Permian

Death”  or  “The  Great  Dying”  )  at  ~  250  m.y.

Environment

• Shallow water: good place for life, soft bodied animals picked up O2 & CO2, Ca 2+ from erosion to form skeletons

• Protection against predators• Their skeletons formed limestone• Previously plants manufactured their food

from a gas (CO2) in the air• Now animals use O2 from plants to break up

their food – very convenient

• Sedimentary rocks form in shallow water from sediment transported by water/wind

• Sand is no longer pure quartz• Shale in deeper water is rich in carbon and

O2-poor. No scavengers in deep water

Reefs

Previously  reefs  were  constructed  from  •bacteria.  Now  invertebrates  added,  living  in  symbiosis with  the  algaeReefs  are  barriers  against  waves  of  the  ocean•The  back• -­‐reefs  are  tremendously  rich  in  invertebratesIf  the  sea  level  falls,  the  lagoon  dries  up  •depositing  the  salts  dissolved  in  the  water  

Evaporite deposits

• In order of deposition:• 1. halite• 2. gypsum & anhydrite• 3. magnesium salts• 4. The last to form is potash

Continents

• N. America had combined with Europe & Greenland to form Laurentia

• Now, Laurentia + Asia = Laurasia• S. America + Africa + Australia = Gondwana• Finally,• Laurasia + Gondwana = Pangea• One detail: Florida was added to N. America, it

was part of Africa

Videos  on  “supercontinents”  on  youtube

• The  earth’s  continents  for  past  4.4  billion  years(video  probably  by  a  teacher,  uses  today’s  outline of continents, 2 minutes)

. Earth 100 million years from now (has exact shape of old continents, 3 minutes)

Mountains

The  Appalachians  were  prominent  like  the  •Rockies.  It  is  the  result  of  collision  of  continents.  Afterwards,  erosion  has  lowered  their  peaks3  • stages:Subduction• of  Iapetus under  LaurentiaCaledonian  • Mts from  subduction of  Iapetusunder  N.  Europe

• Result was volcanic rocks & Red sandstone• Acadian: Baltica collided with Laurentia, uplift

& deposition of red clastic rocks on land from erosion (red from iron oxides)

Carboniferous

• A unique environment: widespread forests in N. America & Europe – in tropical climate

• Forests & swamps periodically flooded• Sea level rises & falls due to glaciation in

Gondwana• Cycles of non-marine deposits: sandstone +

coal & marine shale and limestone

PALEOZOIC LIFE

• First skeletons: protection from predators, protection from UV & attachment of muscles

• In Cambrian: 50 % of fossils are trilobites –they lasted 340 m.y.; they have very advanced eyes – with 360 degree view of the sea for protection

• From Ordovician get corals, graptolites, etc

360 degrees view (one of two eyes)

First  Fish

530  • m.y.:  Jawless  Agnathids later  get  extinct450  • m.y.:  Jawed  with  gills  turning  into  jaws

Placoderms later  get  extinct.Cartilaginous  :  primitive  – sharks  &  rays.  Later,  bony  fishes  appear  of  two  types:

a.  ray  fins  (most  fishes)  &b.  lobe  fins  with  bones.  These  

turned  into  amphibians  

Jawless fish

Placoderm (scary!)

Video: Life moves onto the Land

• Archeopteris, first tree• Early fish developed lungs, vital to jump onto

land. Lungfish breaths air, it lives in freshwater• A 360 m.y. old tetrapod from Greenland had 8

fingers. Limbs were not for walking, but pushing logs in freshwater lakes/swamps

• Earliest footsteps, 348 m.y. old, in W. Ireland

Devonian

The  “Age  of  Fishes”First time they are abundant

First  Land  Plants

Vascular  •First  populated  along  the  shores.  Soil  now  can  •stay  on  land  – kept  by  roots.  This  slowed  down  erosion,  nutrients  stayed  on  land.  Enough  oxygen  (O2) in  the  air  (from  plants)  to  form  the  ozone  (O3) layerWith  plants  on  land,  bacteria  would  stay  on  land  •to  decompose  them,  so  the  insects  invaded  the  land  to  feast  on  them.  Dragonflies  were  60  cm  long  (giants)  &  cockroaches  10  cm,  etc

Animals

• Fish turns into amphibian to avail of abundant insects – therefore, first amphibians were meat-eaters

• Later, amphibians turn into reptiles – the first 100 % land animals

• Primitive reptiles were Dimetrodon (“sail-back”)  &  Theraspids, forerunners of mammals

Our babies

• One can see various stages during their development

• Embryo has eyes on the side (fish, amphibian, primitive reptiles), then they move to the front (advanced reptiles, mammals)

• When baby is born is able to float (swim) in water• Mother’s  womb  is  a  bit  of  the  ocean.  Last  stage  

before was the chicken egg. Mother has the egg –so to speak – inside the body. Why? For protection

Dimetrodon

New invention in plants

Gymnosperms•Female  seeds  stay  on  plant  while  male  seeds  •are  spread  by  wind  (hit-­‐and  –miss)Conifers  survive  in  winter  (that  is  why  they  •were  invented)

Manitoba  in  the  Paleozoic

• Limestone with reefs & caves• Evaporites: gypsum, anhydrite, halite

underground comes out as salt springs• Williston Basin: oil / gas deposits

Landmark events

• Searching for the first animal: 570 m.y. South China, embryos in the earliest stage of division

• First steps on land: near Kingston, Ont. 478 m.y. Arthropod trackways in sandstone, ripple marks in a dune, 8 pairs of legs moved in unison (like oars, rather than one after the other), must be on land

• First land walker : Scotland, 345 m.y. tetrapod, amphibian, croc-like

First steps on land: Tetrapods

Walking  feet

First  proper  walking  foot,  thought  to  be  in  a  fish:  •one  limb  has  complete  foot  attached  with  5  digits,  1  m longHas  a  twist  on  its  bones  that  allows  it  to  bring  its  •feet  forward  for  walkingPreviously,  feet  pointed  out  or  back  for  •swimmingA  decapitated  chicken  runs  for  a  while  without  •the  brain  (spinal  cord  regulates  the  locomotion)-­‐in  a  salamander  diagonally  opposed  limbs  move  together

Transformations

• Ocean plants to Land plants• Fish to Amphibian• Amphibian to Reptile• Reptile to Mammal• Reptile to Bird• Warm-blooded animals• Cold-blooded animals

Ocean plants to Land plants400 m.y.

• Modifications needed:• Resistant to drying• Get roots to obtain nutrients from soil• Ability to transport water from roots to higher

parts where photosynthesis occurred• Respire in air• Get strong to support against gravity• First reproduced by spores, which had to go to

water to be fertilized

Primitive fish

• No fins, no jaws• Armor of thick plates & thick scales• Some are 10 m long, look like armored tanks!• With time the front gills turn into lungs

Fish  into  Amphibian370  m.y.:  “Not  so  Great  a  Change”Fins  turn  into  limbs•Return  to  water  to  lay  eggs•Larvae  have  gills  that  turn  into  lungs•Thick,  scaly  skin  to  avoid  drying  out•

• 3-­‐chamber  heart  to  pump  bloodMoved  eyes  from  side  to  top  of  head•Early  amphibians  had  tail  fin  like  a  fish  •

Amphibian to Reptile340 m.y.  “A  Major  Change”

• Most important: amniotic egg (leathery shell for protection, contains water, shell allows exchange of gases O2, CO2 – it was like a private pool!

• Thicker, scaly skin to protect body against drying

• Primitive had limbs on side, later limbs underneath

• Hind legs stronger

• Front legs lifted off ground later• Tail as balance• Cold-blooded first, some prob. Became warm-

blooded• Dinosaurs are advanced land reptiles• Stronger lungs

Reptile to Mammal200 m.y.

• Warm-blooded• Produce milk from sweat glands + suckle young• Live  young  (“egg”  inside  mother)• Hairy skin to keep temperature• Complex teeth• Highly active (high metabolism)• Separate passages for air & food (so young could

suckle from mother)

Breathing  assisted  by  chest  diaphragm•• 4-­‐chamber  heartTypical  mammalian  string  of  sound• -­‐conducting  bone  (originally  a  reptilian  jaw  joint)Large  brain  /  body  mass  ratio•The  marsupials  were  primitive  mammals  • – the  embryo  stays  in  pouch  &  suckles

Reptiles to Bird175 m.y.

• Hollow bones (hard to fossilize)• Powerful arm muscles to flap wings• Rigid breastbone + vertebrae• Keen vision• Sense of balance• Landing requires retractable feet• Flight requires enormous energy (warm-

blooded)

• Insulated cover (fur, feathers) to keep body warm

• Wings tucked away (Pterosaurs could not do that)

Warm blood?

• To protect life during the Ice Ages – must have suffered a lot, so decided to make changes

• First it was the dinosaurs who changed• Later was passed on to mammals & birds

Warm-­‐blooded  animals:  mammals,  birds

Temperature  at  • 36.6’  CWalk  upright•Food  intake  &  rate  of  metabolism  is  • 2  – 10  X  that  of  cold-­‐bloodedProduction  of  heat  more  efficient•Temperature  is  maintained  by  • ‘waste’  heat  of  metabolismBones  have  blood  passages•

• Heat retained by insulation (fat, fur, feathers)• Less difficulty coping with cold weather

(shivering produces heat)• Poor  radiators  (few  degrees  higher  than  36.6’  

C is lethal

Cold – blooded animals: fish, amphibians, modern reptiles

• Temperature same as the environment• Legs on the side• Low food intake & low metabolism• ½ of energy in food is released• Uses  devices  like  “sail-back”  &  hibernations• Low blood pressure

Late Paleozoic plants:Group name, features, examples, method of reproduction, height, today

• Psilophytes: most primitive, spores, 0.5 m• Lycopsids:  “scale  trees”  leaves  directly  from  

trunk, Lepidodendron, spores, 30 m club moss• Pteridosperms: seed ferns, Glossopteris

(tongue-leaf), seeds, 12 m, Lowly ferns• Sphenopsids: Jointed stems, Calamites (reed-

like), 12 m, spores, Horsetail, Scouring rush• Pteropsids, True ferns, spores, 20 m, ferns

Gymnosperms  • (means  naked  seeds):  cycads,  conifers,  Ginkgo,  seeds,  30  m,  pine,  spruce.  This  was  an  invention  to  protect  from  cold  during  Ice  Ages

Lepidodendron

Glossopteris

Calamites

Formation of coal & oil/gas

• Plants• Get buried• Peat, Lignite shallow• Coal deeper• Anthracite much deeper• Below 9 km turn into

graphite• At 150 km turn into

diamonds

Animals•Get  buried  &  become•Tar  (asphalt)  shallow•Petroleum  below  • 2  kmNatural  gas  (methane)•Below  • 9  km  all  are  destroyed

Coelacanth:  Fish  with  legs

• A  “living fossil”• Spotted in fishing market by Mrs. Latimer,

1938 in South Africa. No fridges then, soft parts decayed. Expert came 2 months later

• No backbone, empty spine filled with oil under pressure, can swim very deep, low metabolism, needs little food

• Gives birth to live young (200 m.y. before mammals appeared!)

• Observe lobe fins in motion: like walking• Blue color with blue eyes• At  depth  lots  of  oxygen,  can’t  survive  in  

swallow water• The tail is very distinctive, belongs to the

primitive fish• Appeared 350 m.y., closest living relative of

the first fish that came ashore to live on land, 360 m.y.

• Rarely found in water less that 200 m deep• Still air-breathing, 3-lobe tail, 1.5 m long 45 kg• Covered with white splotches & looks like a

sponge (camouflage)• Several rows of pointed teeth• Eyes are lined with reflecting cells that enhance

vision, sensory system detects weak electric signals emitted by other life forms

• Live young, 5 – 25 babies

Fossil  forest  underground  in  Illinois

Primitive fish: Dunkleosteus

Sturgeon: primitive fish in Manitoba

• No backbone, but a notochord• First of the ray-finned fishes to appear• No scales, tail like a shark, lives long &

produces few offsprings• Commercial fishing in Manitoba stopped in

1992

Salt  lakes  in  Saskatchewan

Manitou  Beach,  • Watrous lake  (name  from  “Waters  Work  Wonders”,  or  “doctors”  lake)You  float  in  the  water•Cures  fever,  clears  up  skin  eruptions,  eases  •pain  for  arthritisSlightly  oily  water  puts  an  end  to  constipation•From  the  cured:  lumps  on  skin,  then  in  the  •lake  a  burning  sensation  &  they  are  gone!

Watrous lake, Sask.

• A bad paper cut: an hour later could not find it!

• Eczema: stings a bit, but went away

World’s  Largest  trilobite  found  in  Manitoba

Tyndall Stone

• Quarry north of Winnipeg• Discovered along CN line• Building stone for Legislature & the Parliament

in Ottawa, later all public buildings in Manitoba

Fossils  of  corals  and  spiral  cephalopods

Paleozoic Metal deposits

• As in the Precambrian but much less plentiful

Permian Death: mother of mass extinctions

• 96 % of marine life gone• 75 % of land life• Destruction caused by heat?• Extinct: trilobites, most sea urchins,

gorgonopsid reptiles, almost all insects• Fluid inclusion evidence: too much oxygen in

the air

Possible explanation

• Siberian  Traps:  largest  volcanic  eruption  in  earth’s  history. Lasted 1 million years. Not violent eruption. Lavas cover an area as large as the USA, 4 km thick, can cover entire planet 3 m deep

• The release of sulfur could bring about an ice age – that will drop temp. by 5 degrees C

• A Carbon 12 anomaly was due to a methane “burp”  that  can  be  responsible  for  another  5  degrees drop in temp.

Other  evidence

Traces  of  complex  organic  molecules  called  •fullerines or  buckyballs.  Have  a  soccer  ball  structure  with  60  atoms  of  carbonSuch  atoms  found  in  Carbon  stars.  Could  have  •come  with  an  asteroid  collision.  Crater  invisible  today,  covered  up  with  lavaLife  bounced  up  • 80  m.  y later  &  it  was  more  diverse  than  ever  before

Boron buckyball

The Mesozoic: Main events250 my to 65 my

• Pangea broke up• Rise & Fall of Reptiles (Dinosaurs, marine,

flying)• Cordilleran Mountains formed• K-T Extinction

Manitoba

• SW part under the sea (part of Williston Basin)• Mostly shales (deep water)• Marine reptiles near Morden• Crocodile-like reptiles near The Pas• Oil/gas deposits from organic remains of

marine animals (protozoa, etc)• Gypsumville meteorite crater formed

3  periods

Cretaceous:  hot  climate,  shallow  water,  chalk  •(microscopic  plants)  +  chert (microscopic  sponges),  some  coal,  colder  near  the  endJurassic:  shallow  water  restored  from  glaciers  •melting,  rifts  &  volcanoesManicouagan  /  • Gypsumville craters  formed  from  fragments  of  same  asteroidTriassic:  Deserts,  Red  beds,  volcanoes•

Mountains

• Cordillera, Andes (thrusting, folding, intrusions, subduction, accretion)

• Other mountains in NE Asia & Antarctica