Description of the Archaean Era

 The Archaean Era was a time set between 3.8 billion years to 2.5 billion years ago. In this time period, earth’s continents started shifting and simple life forms diversified into more complex organisms. In this time, earth’s atmosphere was made up of volcanic gases such as nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, methane, and tiny traces of oxygen. The crust had cooled down since the Hadean Era. Archaea and Bacteria prokaryotes started to move around and made eukaryotes by (what we think to be) one prokaryote engulfing another and having the one inside work with the prokaryote in a mutually beneficial relationship. This process caused the first eukaryotes! Bacteria evolved over time to “learn” how to use photosynthesis to get a sustainable food source. With this new power, photosynthesizing bacteria ruled over all other bacteria and bought out it’s competitors. These photosynthesizing bacteria grew and grew, floating on the shallow ocean shores, and caked the waters. These bacteria were called cyanobacteria and produced tons of oxygen that acted as one of the first times where life changed it’s environment. The Archaean Era changed a lot of the ways that earth looked and functioned, and pioneered the way towards the Proterozoic Era.

References:

Archaean. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://paleobiology.si.edu/geotime/main/htmlversion/archean1.html

Archaean. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=1&secNum=7

DeepTime. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/change/deeptime/