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Story: Geology – overview

Geological time scale

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Geological time scale

Fossils record the changes of life on earth, and are used to date rocks that were formed over the last 540 million years. This is a simplified version of the internationally-accepted time scale. Ages on the right (in millions of years) are based on radiometric dating.

A much more detailed subdivision of the time scale has been undertaken in New Zealand, and a local version is used for dating rocks.

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How to cite this page

Eileen McSaveney and Simon Nathan, Geology – overview – Rocky foundations, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/8294/geological-time-scale (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Eileen McSaveney and Simon Nathan, published 2 March 2009.

Comments

Miss
23 March 2011
How can Evolution explain the sudden appearance (that the above picture points out) of fossils? Where are all the transitional forms?