GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE EXPLAINED | Geologic Time overview | 5 mass extinctions

In this video I talk about the basics of the geologic time scale that anyone interested in studying geology or learning about rocks should know. I talk about what the geologic time scale is, why you should care about geologic time, fossils and their importance to the rock record, how the discovery of radioactive elements changed the way we calculate ages of rocks, and I do my best to show you how big one billion really is. Thanks for watching!

5:23 *CORRECTIONS* I got a couple of my history facts mixed up when I was talking about the history of absolute dating! Marie Curie was not responsible for the discovery of radioactive elements, although she did have an important role in the study of them. Henri Becquerel discovered radioactive elements a couple years before, in 1896. Marie (and her husband, Pierre) studied uranium and then later discovered radium and polonium in 1898 (incorrectly written as 1896 in the video), and isolated radium in 1902. They, however, did come up with the term 'radioactivity'. I also mention the term radiometric dating, invented by Ernest Rutherford, whom I failed to include while talking about this subject. Rutherford was actually the first person to think of applying these studies on radioactive elements and use them to assign ages to rocks.

Sources: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-h... https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/phy... https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/phy...
https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/rad...

If you're interested in learning more about geology, watch my other videos and subscribe for when I post more in the future! :)

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the 500 million year story of Acadia National Park: https://bit.ly/acadiageology
what to pack for geology field work: https://bit.ly/fieldworkvideo
how the ice age created the Hudson River: https://bit.ly/iceagegeology
why are some volcanoes more explosive than others?: https://bit.ly/maficfelsic

some reading material if you want to learn more:
Geologic time scale PDF: https://www.geosociety.org/documents/...
Geologic time scale (NPS): https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/...
Geologic time: https://www.britannica.com/science/ge...
and https://geology.com/time.htm
History of geologic time: https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/his...
Fossils and geologic time: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/...
Mass extinctions: https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/dino...
Law of superposition: https://www.britannica.com/science/la...
Radiometric age dating: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/...
Zircon and radiometric dating: https://www.britannica.com/science/da...
Marie Curie facts: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/che...
Cambrian Explosion: https://www.britannica.com/science/Ca...

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