Eras

Archean

ar-KEE-un

Citation Formats

General Reference

Earth and Environment Atlas. "Archean." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/eras/archean.

APA Style

Earth and Environment Atlas. (n.d.). Archean. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/eras/archean

BibTeX

@misc{earthandenvironmentatlas-archean,
  author = {Earth and Environment Atlas},
  title = {Archean},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://earth.interactiveatlas.org/eras/archean},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The eon of the earliest solid crust and the earliest life, in an atmosphere with almost no free oxygen. The oceans and continents as standing features begin here.

Facts

Rank

Eon 1

Start (Million Years Ago)

4000 1

End (Million Years Ago)

2500 1

Key Event

The oldest confirmed continental crust and the first widely accepted evidence of life, single-celled and anaerobic. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

In Discipline

Geochronology

Source Geologic Time Scale (Wikipedia)

Sources

1. Geologic Time Scale (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationView the Source

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