Geological time research project

The Devonian Peroid

Other Facts

What was it like?

General Information

The Devonian was a period on the geological time scale that lasted for 60 million years, from 419 to 359.3 Ma.

Most of the Devonian period was a tiem of extrememly igh sea levels, largely leading to it being named the "Age of Fish".

Climate:

Seeing that the Devonian was a time of some of the highest carboante production, it had a warm climate, with a peak of reef growth as well as great marine life diversity. Towards the end of the period however, the climate was becoming more like a golobal icehouse.

The Devonian was the first to see insects, who were wingless. Today they are the most numerous terrestrial animal on Earth, both species and individual wise.

Major Events

The Devonian period ended in mass extinction., where over 20% of marine life dissapeared, with the land organisms extinction being rather unkown. There is no established cause for this event, however various causes have been suggested such as glaciation or a large impact, however neither of these are supported with sufficient evidence. Another large event that occured was the development of roots, leaves, and wood like tissues in plants, which led to more diverse plant life and the beginning of the fist forests

Flora and fauna:

Early tetrapods, the ancestors of land dwelling vertebrates first appeared during the Devonian.

The Devonin first saw land being colonized by primitive spore bearing vegetation. However in the late stages of the period, the Devonian saw large tree like plants that spread all across the globe.

In the Devonian period, the collision of continents resulted in tectonic activity, which led to the formation of the Appalachian Mountains in the Untied States and the Caldeonian Mountains in Europe.

<- References

References

1. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/devonian-period.htm2. Ver Straeten, C. (2022). Chapter 1; An introduction to the Devonian Period, and the Devonian in New York State and North America. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America, 54(3), Abstract no. 13-2. https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2022NE-375384 3. Smart, M. S., Filippelli, G., Gilhooly, W. P., Ozaki, K., Reinhard, C. T., Marshall, J. E. A., & Whiteside, J. H. (2023). The expansion of land plants during the Late Devonian contributed to the marine mass extinction. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 449. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01087-8 4. Becker, R. T., Marshall, J. E. A., Da Silva, A. C., Agterberg, F. P., Gradstein, F. M., & Ogg, J. G. (2020). The devonian period. In Geologic time scale 2020 (pp. 733-810). Elsevier.