Ediacaran organisms, 114
128–31, 144–5, 148–58
Edinburgh University, 43
climate engineering, 15–16, 104, 155–7
El Niño, 156
climate, factors influencing, 80–83,
England, 26–27, 29, 40, 90, 114, 144
99–100, 111–3, 121–2, 134–55
erosion, 24–25, 62, 75–78, 79–81, 113,
coal, 89–90, 120, 180
129, 172
Cold War, 14, 52, 120
erratic boulders, 134–5
Colorado, 127
Ewing, Maurice, 67
comets , 98, 122
continental crust, 60–61, 63, 71–73
“faint young Sun” paradox, 99
convection, mantle, 64–65
feldspar, 127
Copenhagen, University of, 130
Fermi, Enrico, 42–44, 45
Corals, 52, 81–83, 167
fission track dating, 76
core of the Earth, 42
fossil fuels, 52, 74, 89–91, 120, 128, 144,
cosmic rays, 50–51
147–154
creationism, 7–11, 23–24, 174–5
“fracking” (hydrofracturing), 91, 149, 150
Cretaceous (K-T) extinction, 54–57,
Freud, Sigmund, 176
119–22, 124
Future Library Project, 168
Cretaceous Period, 39, 73, 81, 121, 159
Croll, James, 136–7, 139
Galapagos, 80
crust of the Earth, 42–43, 60
Galena, 42
Crutzen, Paul, 120, 129
Galileo, 98
Cryogenian Period, 111–114
Ganges River,
Curie, Marie, 33
gas hydrates (methane clathrates), 147
cyanobacteria, 103, 104
Gayanashagawa (Great Law of Peace),
Cyprus, 154
165
Index 205
geochronology, 36, 40–61
Ice Age. See Pleistocene.
geologic time scale, 8–9, 26–28, 35,
ice cores, 55, 96–97, 130, 138–41, 168
39–40, 68, 130–1, Appendix I
Iceland, 62–63, 66, 68–69
geomagnetic time scale, 68
impact cratering, 56–57, 98
George, Russell, 153
index fossils, 26–28, 116
Glacial Lake Agassiz, 135
India, 73, 74, 80, 121
Glacial Lake Oshkosh, 159
Indian Ocean, 77
glaciers, 81, 83, 94–96, 111–2, 124,
Indiana, 38
130–1, 135, 141, 143–4
Indonesia, 72, 84, 85
Global Boundary Stratigraphic Section
intergenerational projects, 167–9, 174,
and Point, 39, 130
176–177
gneiss, 35, 98, 107, 163
International Commission on
Gondwanaland, 73
Stratigraphy, 38–39, 57, 61, 130
Grand Canyon, 37, 113
International Maritime Commission
granite, 49, 59, 127
(UN agency), 153
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife
Iowa, 38, 44
Commission (GLIFWC), 171
iridium, 55–56
Great Oxidation Event, 103–8, 113–4,
iron fertilization of oceans, 104, 142–3, 153
152
iron formation , 101–2, 108, 180
Great Plains, 81, 110
Iroquois Confederacy, 165, 167
Great Unconformity, 113
island arcs, 72, 73
greenhouse gases, 81, 99–100, 111,
isostatic rebound, 83
121–2, 123–24, 138, 141–55, 172
isotopic dating, 33–35, 40–61
Greenland, 43, 98, 100–1, 130, 138
isotopes, stable, 139; of carbon, 100, 139,
greenstone, 99
146; of hydrogen, 139; of oxygen 60, 139
groundwater, 72, 163–64
Isua supracrustal complex, 99–101
Gulf Stream, 143
Italy, 55
Hadean Eon, 97
Jack Hills, Western Australia, 58–61, 97,
Haida First Nation, 153
98, 101
Haiti, 85
James, P.D., 166
Haldane, J.B.S., 8
Japan, 72, 84, 85, 87
half-life , 34–35, 47–49. See also
Joly, John, 30, 71
radioactivity.
Hawaii, 80
K-Ar (potassium-argon) dating, 52–53
Heart Mountain landslide, 89
K-T extinction. See Cretaceous
Heezen, Bruce , 67
extinction.
Hillis, Daniel, 169
kairos, 26, 61, 168
Himalaya, 73–77, 81, 83, 112, 153,
Katrina (hurricane), 158
172
Kawara, On, 168
Holmes, Arthur, 33, 35–36, 40–46,
Kelvin, Lord (William Thomson),
61, 64
28–30, 33, 36, 55, 64, 74, 117
Holocene, 130, 134, 143–4, 158
hot spot, mantle, 80
Lackner, Klaus, 150
Hubble, Edwin , 44, 47
land plants, in Anthropocene, 130; ear-
Hutton, James, 24–26, 28, 61, 63, 77, 91,
liest, 79; in PETM event, 146; role in
97, 101, 131
carbon cycle, 141, 151–2
206 I n dex
landslides, 88–89
Minnesota, 38, 41, 81, 98, 104, 127, 135,
Laxness, Haldor, 1
171
Latour, Bruno, 161
Mississippi River, 38, 91, 144
lead isotopes, 35, 41–46
mitochondria, 105
lead pollution, 45–47
mixing time (of a geochemical entity),
Leopold, Aldo, 78, 179
187
life, earliest evidence for, 100–3
monsoon, 80, 156
limestone, 55–56, 82–83, 101, 122, 144,
Montreal Protocol, 156
153–4
Moon, 98–99, 136
Longyear, John Munro, 180
Mount Pinatubo, 15–16, 121, 155
Longyearbyen, Svalbard, 180
Mount Rainier, 60
Louisiana delta, 90
Mount St Helens, 120, 121, 127
Lyell, Charles, 21, 25–26, 31, 61, 63, 79,
mountain building, 73–75
89, 94, 95, 97, 131, 134, 135, 137
mountain top removal, 89
Muhammad, 51
Madden-Julian Oscillation, 156, Appen-
Muir, John, 78, 127
dix III
magma generation, 64–65, 71–73
NASA, 14
magnetic field, 51, 67–68
Nazca culture, 131
Manhattan Project, 42, 52, 55
Neptune, 98
Manitoba, 135
New England, 120, 151
mantle, 42, 63–65, 70–73, 80, 83, 154,
Newfoundland , 114, 154
172
New Hampshire, 88
Mars, 66, 96, 99, 101, 170
New Zealand, 72, 87
mass extinctions, 54–57, 117–25, 129,
Nier, Alfred, 41–43, 61
Appendix III
Nile delta, 90
mass spectrometer, 41, 59
nitrogen, 50–51, 105, 129
Matthews, Drummond, 67, 71
Nobel Prize, 13, 46, 54, 129
Mayan civilization, 132
Norns (Norse mythology), 162
McPhee, John, 22
North Dakota, 135
megathrust earthquakes, 84
Northwest Passage, 96
memes, 175, 176
Norway, 2–5, 10, 33, 93–96, 168, 180
Mesozoic Era, 28, 116
nuclear tests, 52, 130
Metamorphism, 10, 53, 57
nuclear winter, 120
meteorites, 44–46, 55–57, 119–20, 122
methane clathrates, 147
ocean acidification, 120–1, 123, 149, 155
methane leaks from wells and pipelines,
ocean crust, 62–73
149
ocean currents, 140, 143, 173
Michigan, 38, 144, 171
ocean trenches, 69
microbial life, 103–6, 108–11, 123–6,
Ohio, 38, 144
141–2, 146, 167
Ojibwe people, 171
Mid-Continent Rift, 110–1
Oklahoma, 91
mid-ocean ridges, 62–66, 103
olivine, 154
Milankovitch, Milutin, 136–7
Oman, 154
Milankovitch cycles, 136–7, 139–41,
Ordovician period, 38, 40, 123
142, 169, 172
ore minerals, 42, 87
Minnehaha Falls, 38
orbital cycles, 136–7, 139–40, 169
Index 207
Origin of Species, 28–32, 116, 117
residence time (of a geochemical
Ovid, 6
entity), 187
oxygen, rise of atmospheric, 103–8,
rivers, 77, 79, 81, 90–91, 105, 112, 144,
113–4, 152
172
ozone, stratospheric, 105, 156
Rodinia (supercontinent), 112
Ruskin, John, 74–75
Pacific Ocean, 68, 69, 132
Russia, 3, 114
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Rutherford, Ernest, 33, 35, 41
(PETM), 146–8, 173
Paleozoic Era, 28, 35, 40, 116, 123
Sagan, Carl, 99, 120
paleontology, 26–28, 56, 114–8, 121,
St Peter sandstone, 38
122
sankofa (Ghanaian concept) 162, 178
palimpsest, 22
sati (Buddhist concept), 162, 178
Pangaea, 32
sandstone, 38, 58, 113
partial melting (of mantle), 43, 65, 72
Scheffler, Samuel, 166
Paterson, Katie, 168
Schimper, Karl , 135
Patterson, Clair, 44–47, 58, 61
Scotland, 24–25, 61, 63, 78, 91, 136–7
peat, 142, 144
seafloor spreading, 65, 67–69, 81
pegmatite, 127–8
sea level rise, 62, 91, 129
peridotite, 154
sea sediment cores, 138–9, 146
Permian extinction, 123
sea turtles, 69
Phanerozoic Eon, 58
seawater, chemistry of, 30, 71, 103–4,
Philippines, 72
108–9, 120, 123–4, 129, 152–3
Phillips, John, 116–7, 123
Secretary of the Future, 173
phosphorous, 109, 114, 129
sedimentary rocks, 24, 36–39, 76, 117,
photosynthesis, 100–1, 105–6, 108, 120,
138–9
130, 144, 145, 150–2
seed bank, 180
Planktos Corporation, 153
Sendak, Maurice, 177
plate tectonics , 63–76, 107, 172
Sepkoski, Jack, 122
Plato, 13, 167
Seventh Generation concept, 165
Pleistocene Epoch, 83, 130, 134–143,
Shakespeare, William, 93
145, 159
Siccar Point, 24–25, 61, 63, 78
potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating, 52–53
Silicon Valley, 170
Precambrian time, 28, 35, 57–61, 78,
Silurian Period , 25, 79, 91
97–115
slab pull, 69
Proterozoic Eon, 103–15, 127, 152, 163
slow earthquakes, 86
pseudotachylyte, 86
Smith, William, 26, 61, 116
Public Trust Doctrine, 171
Smolin, Lee, 175
pyrite, 105
Snowball Earth, 111–4, 128
“solar radiation management, ” 15, 155–7
Quartz, 127
Solar System, early history of, 44–45, 98
Quelccaya ice cap, Peru, 131
South America, 69, 84, 131
South China Sea, 90
radioactivity, 32–36, 47–54. See also
Sri Lanka, 35
isotopic dating
Stonehenge, 167
rare earth elements, 127
stromatolites, 101–2, 167
reforestation, 151–2
stratosphere, 15, 105, 155
208 I n dex
sturgeon, lake, 159–61
universal Darwinism, 175
subduction, 69073, 84–85, 87
Universe, age of, 44, 48
submarine fans, 77, 89
uranium, 33–35, 58, 76, 105
Suess, Eduard, 74
Ussher, James, 23
Suess, Hans, 52, 74
Suess effect, 52
Venus, 66, 96, 99
sulfate, in atmosphere, 15–16, 121,
Vespucci, Amerigo, 66
155–157
Vikings, 68–69, 162, 173
Sumatra, 84
Vine, Fredrick, 67, 71
Sun, evolution of, 99, 105, 111, 172
violence, and climate change, 132–3
Sunda plate, 85
Vishnu Schist, 113
supernova, 50
Vizenor, Gerald, 171
Superior, Lake , 103, 111
volcanoes, 15–16, 37–38, 62–65, 72,
Surtsey, Iceland, 62–63, 90
80–81, 104,113, 121, 144, 172
Sussman, Rachel, 167
Vonnegut, Kurt, 173
Svalbard, 2–5, 93–96, 124, 128, 141–2,
180
Wales, 40
Sweden, 138
Warrawoona Group, 101
Washington State, 87, 144
Tang dynasty, 132
water cycle, 71–73, 99, 113, 139
tektites, 56
West Virginia, 89
terraforming Mars, 170
Where the Wild Things Are, 164
Ten Thousand Year Clock, 169
Wieseltier, Leon, 164
Tharp, Marie, 67, 69, 77
Winnebago, Lake, 159–60
thermochronology, 76
winter, 1–2, 159–61
Thirty Years War, 133
Wisconsin, 1, 38, 78, 93, 110, 128, 134,
Tibetan Plateau, 75, 77, 81
137, 143, 151, 159–60, 163, 171
tides, 99
World War I, 32, 133
tourmaline, 127
World War II, 42, 89
Tragedy of the Commons, 166–7
Wyoming, 89
tree rings, 51–52, 59
wyrd (Norse concept), 162, 164, 178
trench, ocean, 69
Triassic Period,, 123
Y2K crisis, 6
tsunami, 84, 85
Yellowstone, 50, 88
Tyler Prize for Environmental
Ygdrassil, the World Tree, 162
Achievement, 45
Yosemite, 50
young Earth creationism, 7–11 49
U-Pb dating, 35–37, 58–60
Younger Dryas, 143
unconformity, 24–25, 61, 63, 78, 113
Yucatan, 57, 121
uniformitarianism, 24–25, 61, 78–79,
95, 131, 134–5, 177
Zircon, 9, 33, 58–61, 97, 98
Document Outline
Cover
Title
Copyright
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Prologue: The Allure of Timelessness
1 A Call for Timefulness
2 An Atlas of Time
3 The Pace of the Earth
4 Changes in the
Air
5 Great Accelerations
6 Timefulness, Utopian and Scientific
Epilogue
APPENDIXES I Simplified Geologic Timescale
II Durations and Rates of Earth Phenomena
III Environmental Crises in Earth’s History: Causes and Consequences
Notes
Index
Timefulness Page 25