Nectarian

Geologic period, 3920 to 3850 million years ago
Nectarian
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Chronology
Usage information
Celestial bodyEarth's Moon
Time scale(s) usedLunar geologic timescale
Definition
Chronological unitPeriod

The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 3920 million years ago to 3850 million years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris form the upper part of the densely cratered terrain found in lunar highlands.

Early ImbrianLate ImbrianPre-NectarianNectarianEratosthenianCopernican period
Millions of years before present


Relationship to Earth's geologic time scale

Since little or no geological evidence on Earth exists from the time spanned by the Nectarian period of the Moon, the Nectarian has been used by at least one notable scientific work[1] as an unofficial subdivision of the terrestrial Hadean eon.

See also

  • Hadean eon-related topics

References

  1. ^ W. Harland; R. Armstrong; A. Cox; L. Craig; A. Smith; D. Smith (1990). A Geologic time scale 1989. Cambridge University Press.
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Hadean Eon
  • Cryptic
  • Basin Groups
  • Nectarian
  • Lower Imbrian
The Hadean does not have any subdivisions recognized by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. These subdivisions represent one proposal that is loosely based on the lunar geologic timescale.
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Cenozoic Era
(present–66.0 Ma)
Quaternary (present–2.58 Ma)
Neogene (2.58–23.0 Ma)
Paleogene (23.0–66.0 Ma)
Mesozoic Era
(66.0–252 Ma)
Cretaceous (66.0–145 Ma)
Jurassic (145–201 Ma)
Triassic (201–252 Ma)
Paleozoic Era
(252–539 Ma)
Permian (252–299 Ma)
Carboniferous (299–359 Ma)
  • Pennsylvanian (299–323 Ma)
  • Mississippian (323–359 Ma)
Devonian (359–419 Ma)
Silurian (419–444 Ma)
Ordovician (444–485 Ma)
Cambrian (485–539 Ma)
Proterozoic Eon
(539 Ma–2.5 Ga)
Neoproterozoic (539 Ma–1 Ga)
Mesoproterozoic (1–1.6 Ga)
Paleoproterozoic (1.6–2.5 Ga)
Archean Eon (2.5–4 Ga)
Hadean Eon (4–4.6 Ga)
 
ka = kiloannum (thousands years ago); Ma = megaannum (millions years ago); Ga = gigaannum (billions years ago).
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