Four Billion Years of Earth Earth s history is divided into two main parts the Precambrian and the Paleozoic Precambrian lasted from roughly 5 billion to 540 million years ago And the Phanerozoic began at 540 million years ago and continues to today Hadean Archean 4 6 to 3 8 billion years ago First part of the Precambrian 3 8 to 2 5 billion years ago Second part of the Precambrian Proterozoic 2 5 billion to 540 million years ago Third part of the Precambrian Late Paleozoic Carboniferous Permian Periods 360 251 million years ago Mesozoic 250 to 66 million years ago End of the Mesozoic Era Cretaceous Period 145 65 million years ago The Cenozoic Era is the third and final part of the Phanerozoic It is the beginning of the modern world The continents are aligning to their present geographic positions on the globe during the early part of the Cenozoic
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