Archean

Archean
4031 ± 3 – 2500 Ma
Artist's impression of an Archean landscape
Chronology
Etymology
Name formalityFormal
Alternate spelling(s)Archaean, Archæan
Synonym(s)Eozoic
J.W. Dawson, 1865
Usage information
Celestial bodyEarth
Regional usageGlobal (ICS)
Time scale(s) usedICS Time Scale
Definition
Chronological unitEon
Stratigraphic unitEonothem
Time span formalityFormal
Lower boundary definitionTen oldest U-Pb zircon ages
Lower boundary GSSAAlong the Acasta River, Northwest Territories, Canada
65°10′26″N 115°33′14″W / 65.1738°N 115.5538°W / 65.1738; -115.5538
Lower GSSA ratified2023[1]
Upper boundary definitionDefined Chronometrically
Upper GSSA ratified1991[2]

The Archean Eon (IPA: /ɑːrˈkən/ ar-KEE-ən, also spelled Archaean or Archæan), in older sources sometimes called the Archaeozoic, is the second of the four geologic eons of Earth's history, preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic. The Archean represents the time period from 4,031 to 2,500 Mya (million years ago). The Late Heavy Bombardment is hypothesized to overlap with the beginning of the Archean. The Huronian glaciation occurred at the end of the eon.

The Earth during the Archean was mostly a water world: there was continental crust, but much of it was under an ocean deeper than today's oceans. Except for some rare relict crystals, today's oldest continental crust dates back to the Archean. Much of the geological detail of the Archean has been destroyed by subsequent activity. The Earth's atmosphere was also vastly different in composition from today's: the prebiotic atmosphere was a reducing atmosphere rich in methane and lacking free oxygen.

The earliest known life, mostly represented by shallow-water microbial mats called stromatolites, started in the Archean and remained simple prokaryotes (archaea and bacteria) throughout the eon. The earliest photosynthetic processes, especially those by early cyanobacteria, appeared in the mid/late Archean and led to a permanent chemical change in the ocean and the atmosphere after the Archean.

  1. ^ "Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point". International Commission of Stratigraphy. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  2. ^ Plumb, K. A. (1 June 1991). "New Precambrian time scale". Episodes. 14 (2): 139–140. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/1991/v14i2/005.