Earth and Environment Atlas

How The Planet Works
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Eras

Paleoproterozoic

Proterozoic

Citation Formats

General Reference

APA Style

BibTeX

The first and longest of the Proterozoic eon's three eras, spanning 2.5 billion to 1.6 billion years ago. It is defined by the Great Oxidation Event, in which atmospheric free oxygen rose from near nothing to a meaningful fraction of modern levels, and by the roughly 300 million year Huronian glaciation and the assembly of the early supercontinent Columbia, also called Nuna.

Facts
Rank
Era 1
Start (Million Years Ago)
2500 1
End (Million Years Ago)
1600 1
Key Event
Atmospheric free oxygen levels soared permanently during the Siderian and Rhyacian periods in an aerochemical event called the Great Oxidation Event. 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Encompasses

Orosirian, Eras
Rhyacian, Eras
Siderian, Eras
Statherian, Eras

In Discipline

Part Of

Proterozoic, Eras

Precursor To

Mesoproterozoic, Eras
Sources
1. Paleoproterozoic (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Quote, Lead section
spanning from 2,500 to 1,600 million years ago
View the Source
1. Paleoproterozoic (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGreat Oxidation Event section
Quote, Great Oxidation Event section
Atmospheric free oxygen levels soared permanently during the Siderian and Rhyacian periods in an aerochemical event called the Great Oxidation Event.
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.