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

Situated between the tectonically active western United States and the more stable interior of the North American plate, the Wyoming Craton has experienced significant erosion over geologic time.

From Science Daily • Jun. 3, 2026

Much as inertinite survived over vast stretches of geologic time, biochar should be able to last for millennia, Sanei and his coauthors calculate.

From Salon • Mar. 7, 2025

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

A small lake in a conservation area on the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario has been selected to represent the Anthropocene, a proposed, and challenged, new chapter in geologic time.

From New York Times • Jul. 15, 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