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The Precambrian
Precambrian Time Span
- Date range: 4,540 million years ago to 542 million years ago
- Length: 3,998 million years (88.1% of geologic time)
- Geologic calendar: January 1 to November 19 (323 days)
Introduction
The Precambrian was the "Age of Early Life." During the Precambrian, continents formed and our modern atmosphere developed, while early life evolved and flourished. Soft-bodied creatures like worms and jellyfish lived in the world's oceans, but the land remained barren. Common Precambrian fossils include stromatolites and similar structures, which are traces of mats of algae-like microorganisms, and microfossils of other microorganisms.
National parks that contain Precambrian rocks are special places because they reveal an ancient world where continents formed and early life developed. The oldest rocks exposed in the NPS are found in the Greater Yellowstone parks of Bighorn Canyon, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone, and contain evidence of events as much as 3.6 billion years old**.** Ancient Precambrian rocks of the Canadian Shield are exposed in Voyageurs National Park. The 1,400-million-year-old stromatolites of Glacier National Park are among the oldest fossils in the NPS. The 1,100-million year-old rocks of Shenandoah National Park represent molten materials emplaced during the rise and fall of a Precambrian mountain range.
Precambrian Resources
The Precambrian is divided into three eons highlighted below, from youngest to oldest: Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic. A few examples of NPS resources in each time Period are highlighted below.
Hadean Eon
The Hadean Eon began with the formation of the first rocks on Earth and ended 4 billion years ago. This eon was a time of massive volcanic activity and frequent collisions with asteroids, leading to rapid changes of the planet’s surface. Because of the extreme changes and the great age of the rocks involved, very little evidence of the events of the Hadean Eon has survived to the present day. The oldest rocks and minerals are found in the Canadian Shield and western Australia. None of the lands included in the National Park Service are known to preserve any rocks or minerals from the Hadean Eon.
Archean Eon
The Archean Eon began 4 billion years ago and ended 2.5 billion years ago. During this time, the first areas of continental crust appeared and began coalescing into larger landmasses. These continental cores are known as cratons or shields. Collisions with objects from space and volcanic activity decreased. Life first appeared on Earth during the Archean Eon. The earliest types of fossils to be found in any quantity are traces of microbial mats. A mat of aquatic microbes would trap sediment, and the microbes would grow over the sediment, producing a layered structure. Stromatolites are one well-known type of microbial mat fossil. None of the lands in the National Park Service have Archean fossils, but a handful have rocks this old. They are concentrated in two general areas: southern Idaho into northwestern Wyoming (Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, City of Rocks National Reserve, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park) and northeastern Minnesota into Wisconsin (Ice Age National Scenic Trail, Saint Croix National Scenic River, and Voyageurs National Park). The Archean rocks in these parks all appear to have formed late in the eon, between about 3 and 2.5 billion years ago.
Proterozoic Eon
- Proterozoic Eon—2.5 Billion to 541 MYA — The Proterozoic Eon is the most recent division of the Precambrian. It is also the longest geologic eon, beginning 2.5 billion years ago and ending 541 million years ago
Prehistoric Life Coloring Book
Prehistoric Life in the National Parks Coloring Book
Visit—Precambrian Parks
Every park contains some slice of geologic time. Below, we highlight selected parks associated with the Precambrian. This is not to say that a particular park has only rocks from the specified period. Rather, rocks in selected parks exemplify a certain event or preserve fossils or rocks from a certain geologic age.
Appalachian National Scenic Trail (APPA), CT, GA, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, VT, and WV—[APPA Geodiversity Atlas] [APPA Park Home] [APPA npshistory.com]
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (BICA), Montana and Wyoming—[BICA Geodiversity Atlas] [BICA Park Home] [BICA npshistory.com]
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (BOHA), Maine—[BOHA Geodiversity Atlas] [BOHA Park Home] [BOHA npshistory.com]
Death Valley National Park (DEVA), California and Nevada—[DEVA Geodiversity Atlas] [DEVA Park Home] [DEVA npshistory.com]
Glacier National Park (GLAC), Montana—[GLAC Geodiversity Atlas] [GLAC Park Home] [GLAC npshistory.com]
Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA), Arizona—[GRCA Geodiversity Atlas] [GRCA Park Home] [GRCA npshistory.com]
Grand Teton National Park (GRTE), Wyoming—[GRTE Geodiversity Atlas] [GRTE Park Home] [GRTE npshistory.com]
Joshua Tree National Park (JOTR), California—[JOTR Geodiversity Atlas] [JOTR Park Home] [JOTR npshistory.com]
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (KEMO), Georgia—[KEMO Geodiversity Atlas] [KEMO Park Home] [KEMO npshistory.com]
Mojave National Preserve (MOJA), California—[MOJA Geodiversity Atlas] [MOJA Park Home] [MOJA npshistory.com]
Pipestone National Monument (PIPE), Minnesota—[PIPE Geodiversity Atlas] [PIPE Park Home] [PIPE npshistory.com]
Rocky Mountain National Park (ROMO), Colorado—[ROMO Geodiversity Atlas] [ROMO Park Home] [ROMO npshistory.com]
Shenandoah National Park (SHEN), Virginia—[SHEN Geodiversity Atlas] [SHEN Park Home] [SHEN npshistory.com]
Tonto National Monument (TONT), Arizona—[TONT Geodiversity Atlas] [TONT Park Home] [TONT npshistory.com]
Voyageurs National Park (VOYA), Minnesota—[VOYA Geodiversity Atlas] [VOYA Park Home] [VOYA npshistory.com]
Yellowstone National Park (YELL), Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana—[YELL Geodiversity Atlas] [YELL Park Home] [YELL npshistory.com]
Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve (YUCH), Alaska—[YUCH Geodiversity Atlas] [YUCH Park Home] [YUCH npshistory.com]
Featured Articles
- Superior Upland Province — The Superior Upland Province is the southern extension of the Laurentian Upland Province, part of the nucleus of North America called the Canadian Shield. The rocks of the Superior Upland are mostly Precambrian metamorphic rocks and overlying Paleozoic rocks (Cambrian) covered by a thin veneer of glacial deposits left behind when glaciers melted at the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age.
Related Links
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Fossils Through Geologic Time—Site Index
Pennsylvanian: 323.2 to 298.9 MYA
Mississippian: 358.9 to 323.2 MYA
Ordovician: 485.4 to 443.8 MYA
Part of a series of articles titled
Geologic Time—Major Divisions and NPS Fossils.
Previous:
Paleozoic Era
Where this belongs
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail
- Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
- Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
- Death Valley National Park
- Glacier National Park
- Grand Canyon National Park
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