Late Precambrian Geological Changes
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ScribdTranslationsLate Precambrian Geological Changes
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ScribdTranslationsGeological changes
The Earth during the late Precambrian, viewed from the South Pole
During this time, the following events occurred: formation of the lithosphere, hydrosphere,
the atmosphere, the origin and the early evolution of the Earth.
The oldest material known on planet Earth is estimated to be between 4.100 and
4.2 billion years old and corresponds to some grains of zircon mineral. But
Some meteorites, which are believed to have formed at the same time as the Earth, allow assigning to
the Earth is 4.550 billion years old.
As it heats up theEarth, andThe volcanism expelled water vapor and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
primitive (proto-atmosphere), which was also composed of reducing gases, such as
theammonia. However, it was completely missing theoxygen.
The water vapor accumulated in the atmosphere until the Earth's temperature dropped.
below 100 °C, about 3.8 billion years ago, and then the first ones solidified
rocks. From this same period there are signs of a first liquid cover (primordial ocean), to
to precipitate water vapor onto the Earth's crust and begin to accumulate salts.
The first continental nuclei, calledcratons, sthey moved over a warm mantle and
they collided with each other. The collisions of these primitive nuclei folded the Earth and formed the
first mountains.
The grouping of all cratons into a single continent,PangaeaI, oh Rodinia, was produced
three times during the Proterozoic.
During the course of the Proterozoic eon, two major events [Link], the last of the
which coincides with a greatglaciationglobal cooling period, with snowfall, advance of
glaciers in the mountains and thickening of the ice layer in cold seas).
Once a stability is achieved both cortical (sufficiently thick, differentiated cortex and
rigid), like atmospheric (disappearance of ammonia,methane,hydrogen sulfide, andtc., and replacement
by oxygen and nitrogen), for about 2.5 billion years, the Earth's climate has
stabilized and the stage was already set for the proliferation and evolution of life.
[edit]The first continental crust
The first continental crust formed from the upper [Link] a period that
oscillates between 3.800 and 2.800 million years old. It
formedandesitesybasalts, sbeing very numerous the intrusionsgranites.
Scientists believe that thiscontinental crustprprimitive, rich inaluminum silicates, emore
thinner, hotter, and more discontinuous than the current crust.
The areas constituted by this first crust are calledshields, and form the core of
the current onescontinents. Ein some of them they constitute the majority, as in the case of
continentAmericanin theTabletop mountainor in theVentania Mountainsand on the ContinentAfrican. The
the oldest shields are from Africa andGreenland, cat an age that can reach up to
3.5 billion years old.
It is likely that by the end of the Precambrian, a tectonic plate dynamics similar to the present one occurred.
[edit]Life in the Precambrian
Artículos principales: Origin of lifeyBiota of the Ediacaran period.
ThefossilsPrecambrians are very scarce. Occasionally, remains of some are preserved.
these organisms, or their prints or traces.
The almost complete lack of Precambrian fossils may be due to the fact that practically all of the
organisms should have soft bodies and be devoid of hard parts that could fossilize.
Another possible cause of the scarcity of fossils from this period is that the rocks
Precambrian sedimentary rocks weremetamorphosedand the remains of organisms that could
they were destroyed.
On islands that are located to the west ofGreenlandsrocks of 3.8 billion have been found
of years of antiquity that could have organic origins. They have been found
inAustraliawestern rocks that contain numerous microfossils. The oldest have
around 3.460 billion years and correspond to primitivebacteriawell preserved. They are
especially abundant thestromatolites—layers and semi-spherical masses ofcarbonate
calcium—formed by the activity ofcyanobacteria, qthey can reach 1.4 billion of
years of antiquity.
About 670 million years ago,coralssoft,jellyfish, annelidsand other animals with body
soft appeared in shallow seas and on the shores of the continents (seefauna of
Ediacara).
[edit]Environmental changes
In the course of theProterozoictheoceansand theaatmospherethey were undergoing changes. The salts
that the rainwater dissolved from the emerged land and carried to the seas caused that
it will increase its saline concentration.
2.8 billion years ago thecyanobacteriacthey started to produceoxygenthat started to
accumulate in the atmosphere. 300 million years later, 2.450 billion years ago, a
faster increase in oxygen production, causing what is known asthe"Gran
Oxidation». The reaction of oxygen with theironpresent in the seas produced the formation of
important sedimentary depositsofiron oxidesbranded, currentlyexploitedcchild
main source of that elementto.8 9
1.8 billion years ago, a layer of ozone was formed from atmospheric oxygen that
it protects living beings from the lethal ultraviolet radiation of the Sun.
As for theclimate, sthey alternated periods of desert climate with cold and humid times, and
including some very intense glacial periods, such as those oflCryogenic Period.