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Era

Paleoproterozoic

Proterozoic

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. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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
Connections

Has Geologic Rank

Geologic Era, Concepts

In Discipline

Precursor To

Mesoproterozoic, Eras
Sources
1. Paleoproterozoic (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    spanning from 2,500 to 1,600 million years ago
  • Article text
    Eventually all surface reductants (particularly ferrous iron, sulfur and atmospheric methane) were exhausted, and the atmospheric free oxygen levels soared permanently during the Siderian and Rhyacian periods in an aerochemical event called the Great Oxidation Event, which brought atmospheric oxygen from near none to up to 10% of the modern level.
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