Cambrian
Sign in to saveThe Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 486.85 Ma.
AI overview
The Cambrian is the earliest geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting about 52 million years from 538.8 to 486.85 million years ago. It marks the beginning of the Phanerozoic Eon, the time interval that encompasses all of Earth's history with visible life forms.
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Key facts
- Geologic timespan.name
- Cambrian
- Geologic timespan.color
- Cambrian
- Geologic timespan.image_map
- Mollweide Paleographic Map of Earth, 510 Ma.png
- Geologic timespan.caption_map
- A map of Earth as it appeared 510 million years ago during the Cambrian Period, Series 2 epoch
- Geologic timespan.timeline
- Cambrian
- Geologic timespan.name_formality
- Formal
- Geologic timespan.celestial_body
- Earth
- Geologic timespan.usage
- Global (ICS)
- Geologic timespan.timescales_used
- ICS Time Scale
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- Period
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- System
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Article
35 sectionsContents
- Etymology and history
- Geology
- Stratigraphy {{anchor|Subdivisions}}
- Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary
- Terreneuvian
- Cambrian Series 2
- Miaolingian
- Furongian
- Cambrian–Ordovician boundary
- Impact structures
- Paleogeography
- Laurentia
- Gondwana
- Ganderia, East and West Avalonia, Carolinia and Meguma Terranes
- Baltica
- Siberia
- Central Asia
- North China
- South China and Annamia
- Climate
- Geochemistry
- Isotope excursions
- Base of Cambrian
- Cambrian Stages 2 and 3
- Cambrian Stage 4 to early Miaolingian
- Early Furongian
- Magnesium/calcium isotope ratios in seawater
- Flora
- Oceanic life
- Symbol
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 486.85 Ma.
Most of the continents were located in the southern hemisphere surrounded by the vast Panthalassa Ocean. The assembly of Gondwana during the Ediacaran and early Cambrian led to the development of new convergent plate boundaries and continental-margin arc magmatism along its margins that helped drive up global temperatures. Laurentia lay across the equator, separated from Gondwana by the opening Iapetus Ocean.