geologic time

American  

noun

1. the succession of eras, periods, and epochs as considered in historical geology.

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geologic time Scientific  

/ jē′ə-lŏj′ĭk /

1. The period of time covering the formation and development of the Earth, from about 4.6 billion years ago to today.

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Etymology

Origin of geologic time

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Together, these remnants are helping scientists understand how fires have shaped and been shaped by environmental change through geologic time.

From New York Times • May 10, 2024

"Determining the controls on river incision into rock is important for understanding how mountain ranges evolve over geologic time," DiBiase said.

From Science Daily • Dec. 15, 2023

Given his anguish about America’s deploying his nuclear weapon in 1945, I suspect “Oppie” would also agonize about his ownership of our current geologic time period.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2023

In the geologic time scale, humans barely exist for the span of a breath and, for most of us, that's just long enough to be born into a cruel world and suffer its grief.

From Salon • Aug. 27, 2023

If you had been looking for a very long, geologic time, you could have seen the continents them- selves in motion, drifting apart on their crustal plates, held afloat by the fire beneath.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas