today
9 a.m. International Education Week Humboldt State University
read >noon Redwood Region Audubon Society Meeting Golden Harvest Cafe
read >noon Dreamscapes The Oasis
read >4:30 p.m. HomeWork Hotline Call for details
read >5 p.m. Guitar Jazz Cafe Brio
read >5 p.m. Henderson Center Holiday Open House Henderson Center
read >6 p.m. Americans for Safe Access Bayview Courtyard Complex
read >6 p.m. Matthew Cook Cher-Ae-Heights Casino
read >6 p.m. Bill McBride and Friends Hotel Ivanhoe
read >6 p.m. Kindred Spirits Mad River Brewing Company
read >6 p.m. Watershed Restoration Week Celebration Wharfinger Building
read >6:30 p.m. Seabury Gould at Gallagher's Gallagher's
read >6:30 p.m. Share a Story: Growing Vegetable Soup Arcata Library
read >6:30 p.m. 2008 Transgender Day of Remebrance Humboldt County Courthouse
read >7 p.m. Blue Grass Jam Old Town Coffee & Chocolates
read >7 p.m. Mr. Calamari's Jazz Machine Mosgo's
read >7 p.m. All Ages Open Mic East Side Deli
read >7 p.m. Don's Neighbors Gilded Rose
read >7 p.m. KEET-TV's Annual Holiday Auction See Event Description
read >8 p.m. Karaoke WAVE @ blue lake casino
read >8 p.m. Karaoke at Bear River Casino Bear River Casino
read >8 p.m. Smuin Ballet: The Christmas Ballet Van Duzer Theater at HSU
read >8 p.m. Getting It Arcata Playhouse
read >8 p.m. She Loves Me North Coast Repertory Theater
read >8 p.m. The Medium Gist Hall Theater at HSU
read >8:30 p.m. Keak da Sneak, San Quinn Mazzotti's Arcata
read >9 p.m. Soldiers of Shangri-la Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. Dancehall/Reggae Thursday with Rude Lion Sound DJ Jimmy Jonz The Red Fox Tavern
read >9 p.m. Scotch Wiggly The Boiler Room
read >9 p.m. The Common Vice, Silent Giants, Rooster McClintock Humboldt Brews
read >9 p.m. Hillstomp, O'Death Jambalaya
read >9:30 p.m. DJ Ray Ragg's Rack Room
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. Lightnin' Bill Woodcock Pearl Lounge
read >previous columns
Dec. 13, 2007
Is Mycology Mushrooming?
Yes, interest in fungi is expanding. However, few of us ...
read >Dec. 6, 2007
How did our marine terraces form?
An example of a marine terrace is the surface on ...
read >Nov. 29, 2007
Will Global Warming Harm Our North Coast?
Fossil fuel combustion has already increased the concentration of carbon ...
read >
Photos
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If you now realize that geologic time is too vast to truly comprehend, then you are primed to understand the evolution of our planet and its life.
What Is Geologic Time?
By Don Garlick
Geologic time was involved in my previous articles on earthquakes, marine terraces, photosynthesis and changing climates. I contend that grasping the immensity of geologic time is a prerequisite to a real understanding of our planet and its life. Twenty thousand years ago, Canada was buried under three kilometers of ice and sea level was 140 meters lower. Two hundred million years ago, Gondwanaland was still intact, there was no Atlantic Ocean, and the Jurassic was young. Two billion years ago, amoebas were our most advanced animals as oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere.
To assist your mind in grasping such enormous expanses of time, consider the rate at which a finger nail grows, 40 mm per year. After one million years it would be 40 km long (Rio Dell to Arcata). After one billion years it would encircle the globe, 40,000 km. Our Earth is 4.6 billion years old, a third the age of the Universe. Can you see your finger nail growing?
If you now realize that geologic time is too vast to truly comprehend, then you are primed to understand the evolution of our planet and its life.
Enjoy your holidays, and I hope the year 4,600,002,008 is kind to you.
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