© 2022 Chris Halvorson
© 2022 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
by
Chris M. Halvorson
The Urantia Book gives a detailed overview of the historical geology of our planet, Urantia (see Papers 57-61). Any systematic presentation of historical geology is built upon the framework of a geologic time scale, a partition of the entire extent of geologic time into a hierarchical set of divisions, related to a sequence of absolute dates. The geologic time scale implied by the overview of The Urantia Book is shown in the table on page 21.
Some aspects of the partitioning and nomenclature of geologic time scales are not universally agreed upon among geologists. The system used in this paper is a harmonization of The Urantia Book system, commonly used systems, and an overriding desire for consistency. The Cryptozoic Eon[1] is often referred to simply as Precambrian time, with the Archaeozoic and Azoic eras referred to as the Archean and Hadean, respectively. In this paper, all eons and eras are referred to by names ending in the suffix “-zoic,” meaning “life.” (The literal meanings of the names of eons, eras, and epochs are given in parentheses.) This choice makes the nomenclature uniform and emphasizes the fact that the universe was created to be inhabited. Urantia geologic time embodies the history of life on this planet.
In common usage, the boundaries of the Cryptozoic periods are rather arbitrary. The overview of history in The Urantia Book provides the information necessary to make these boundaries much more definitive. Therefore, the Neoproterozoic is defined as being equivalent to the Vendian, which is usually considered to be only the latest part of the Proterozoic. There are a few other minor boundary problems. The Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods of the Paleozoic are combined into a single period, the Carboniferous, in The Urantia Book; and the Paleocene epoch is included in the Eocene. Both of these approaches are also used by some geologists. In fact, there are many different sets of boundary definitions for Cenozoic epochs. Most often, the early Pliocene boundary is chosen at a later date than in The Urantia Book, and earlier ages are designated as late Miocene. The dates for the start of the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs reflect the clarified chronology of ice ages presented in The Urantia Book. Usually, the start of the Holocene epoch is set at about 10,000 years ago, which corresponds roughly to the start of the Neolithic, while 35,000 years ago corresponds to the start of the Upper Paleolithic.
The most pronounced difference between the geologic time scale of The Urantia Book and those in common use is the sequence of absolute dates. The dates of The Urantia Book are the actual recorded historical dates, but the dates in common use are radiometric dates. The rightmost column of the table gives the approximate relationship between these two date sequences. The first clue to why there is a difference between the actual and radiometric dates is inserted in the chronological presentation of The Urantia Book, namely Paper 58, Section 3.
It is no coincidence that this section immediately precedes the overview of the Proterozoic, where the greatest change in the relationship of dates occurs. The section deals with the “space environment”, in particular the presence of subelectronic energetic activities in the environment (cf. UB 42:5.5, Paper: section.paragraph), and how these energies do not directly affect the evolution of life, but are nevertheless essential to it. The usefulness of natural radioactive decay as a method of precise dating rests on the common assumption that the rate of decay is constant over time. This assumption is incorrect. Radioactivity is a reflection of the existence of the subelectronic realm of physical reality (UB 42:4.12); it is affected by the environment, which is a function of space and time. An atom is not an isolated physical system; there is no vacuum ( UB 42:4.6 ). Radioactivity is proportional to subelectronic activity (UB 42:4.5,7). Therefore, both mutation and radiometric dating are indirectly affected by the space environment.
The Master Physical Controllers, especially the energy transformers (29:4.1518), have regulated radioactivity (UB 42:4.10) throughout geological time, according to the evolutionary plan of the Life Carriers. In the past, radioactive decay rates were higher than present rates. Therefore, radiometric dates, which are determined by assessing the degree of decay, overestimate the age of crystallization of a mineral in a rock, especially if the mineral was formed in the distant past. For the oldest rocks on the surface of the earth, radiometric dates are approximately four times the actual dates. The oldest rocks discovered to date are the Acasta Gneisses [2] in northwestern Canada near Great Slave Lake, which have a radiometric age of 4.03 billion years. Zircon mineral grains in sedimentary rocks from west-central Australia have a radiometric age of 4.4 billion years. The oldest dated lunar rocks have an age of 4.5 billion years. (The moon reached its present size just before the earth.) The oldest lead deposits are dated to 4.54 billion years, and the oldest meteorites to 4.58 billion years. These oldest radiometric dates correspond to actual dates of 1.01 to 1.15 billion years, which is in agreement with the statement in The Urantia Book: “Urantia is more than a billion years old on its surface” (UB 57:7.3).
The sun was born 6 billion years ago, and by 5 billion years ago it was an isolated variable star with a period of three and a half days. Over the course of a million years, beginning at 4.5 billion years ago, the Angona system passed close to the sun and initiated the formation of the solar system. This event marks the beginning of the Azoic Era. By about 3.0 billion years ago, the embryonic stage of development was complete; the solar system was thus recorded and given the name Monmatia, marking the beginning of the Middle Azoic. Monmatia literally means “the place where the mother of man is,” which correlates with the name Urantia, “(y)our heavenly place.” Over the next 1.5 billion years, meteors rained down on the earth and moon. The transition from the meteoric age to the volcanic age occurred 1.5 billion years ago, when the Earth was two-thirds of its present size and the Moon was nearly complete. This is the beginning of the Late Azoic.
About 100,000,000,000 years ago, having nearly attained its present size, the earth “was placed upon the physical records of Nebadon and given its name.” This is the literal beginning of Urantia history, the beginning of the Archaeozoic era. About 95,000,000,000 years ago, “Urantia was assigned to the Satania system of planetary administration and was placed upon the Norlatiadek life register.” This life record marks the initiation of the building of the material organizations for life by the Master Physical Controllers, specifically, the primary associators (29:4.25-27), who were the first beings to arrive on the planet. The ancient life on the planet was prokaryotic. Prokaryotes [3] (bacteria, cyanobacteria, archaea, mitochondria and chloroplasts) are living machines, single-celled power stations; their association with power beings (i.e. the Master Physical Controllers) is therefore natural. In fact, both energy transformers and primary associators store and release energy, by analogy with the storage and release of energy by prokaryotes via ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Similarly, secondary dissociators (UB 29:4.28) function like the bacteria involved in the decomposition of organic matter.
Geological time scale
Aeon | Era | Period | Epoch | Approximate Beginning Date |
Radiometric- to-Actual Date Ratio* |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phanerozoic (visible life) |
Cenozoic (recent life) |
Quaternary | Holocene (wholly recent) |
35,000 | 1.0 |
Pleistocene (most recent) |
2,100,000 | 1.0 | |||
Tertiary | Pliocene (more recent) |
12,000,000 | 1.0 | ||
Miocene (less recent) |
25,000,000 | 1.0 | |||
Oligocene (scarcely recent) |
35,000,000 | 1.0 | |||
Eocene (early recent) |
45,000,000 | 1.2 | |||
Paleocene (remotely recent) |
50,000,000 | 1.3 | |||
Mesozoic (middle life) |
Cretaceous | 100,000,000 | 1.4 | ||
Jurassic | 124,000,000 | 1.6 | |||
Triassic | 150,000,000 | 1.6 | |||
Paleozoic (early life) |
Permian | 180,000,000 | 1.6 | ||
Pennsylvanian | 210,000,000 | 1.6 | |||
Mississippian | 226,000,000 | 1.6 | |||
Devonian | 275,000,000 | 1.5 | |||
Silurian | 300,000,000 | 1.5 | |||
Ordovician | 350,000,000 | 1.4 | |||
Cambrian | 400,000,000 | 1.4 | |||
Cryptozoic (hidden life) |
Proterozoic (former life) |
Neoproterozoic | 450,000,000 | 1.4 | |
Mesoproterozoic | 500,000,000 | 2.0 | |||
Paleoproterozoic | 550,000,000 | 4.0 | |||
Archeozoic (ancient life) |
Late | 750,000,000 | 4.0 | ||
Middle | 850,000,000 | 4.0 | |||
Early | 1,000,000,000 | 4.0 | |||
Azoic (without life) |
Late | 1,500,000,000 | — | ||
Middle | 3,000,000,000 | — | |||
Early | 4,500,000,000 | — |
There is no single set of standardized radiometric dates, and any given set has inherent uncertainties; therefore, the date report compares an average radiometric date to the approximate true date given in The Urantia Book. A precise comparison is not possible. (There are no radiometric dates corresponding to the beginnings of the Azoic periods.)
When the first Life Carriers arrived on Urantia 900,000,000 years ago, their presence activated the lifeless material forms of the original completed prokaryotes with living vitality (cf. UB 36:6.3). Living vitality is the first phase of life animation. Prokaryotes cannot access the second phase, the reproductive spark; therefore they multiply by simple fission (DNA replication and cell division) rather than by sexual reproduction, the meiosis [4] and mitosis [5] of eukaryotes. The oldest cyanobacteria fossils have a radiometric date of 3.5 billion years, corresponding to a real date of 875,000,000 years. Following the activation of prokaryotic life: “[Urantia] was granted full universe status. Soon afterward it was entered in the records of the headquarters planets of the minor and major sectors of the superuniverse; and before the close of that age Urantia had found an entry in the record of planetary life of Uversa.”
The Middle Archeozoic begins 850,000,000 years ago, with the actual stabilization of a crust, global convection in the mantle, and a core of heavier elements at the center of the earth. This date is also marked by the initial functioning of the magnetic poles. The beginning of the Late Archeozoic, 750,000,000 years ago, is marked by the beginning of the north-south and east-west cracking of the single land mass, the beginning of continental drift. As the continents drifted apart, large shallow seas formed in the breaks. When these seas reached the appropriate stage of development, they hosted the “inauguration of the cycle of evolution” (UB 58:1.2).
Eukaryotic life is designed for evolution, and 550,000,000 years ago the Life Carriers implanted the first single-celled eukaryotes in the seas of Urantia. This eukaryotic plant life organized itself in situ and was built upon the prokaryotic life[^6] that was already established on the planet; in particular, chloroplasts are prokaryotes. The establishment of eukaryotic life marks the beginning of the Proterozoic Era. The oldest fossil of a macroscopic organism is radiometrically dated to 2.1 billion years ago, which corresponds to an actual date of 548,000,000 years ago. The oldest relatively clear evidence of eukaryotes is dated to about 1.8 billion years ago, which implies an actual age of 540,000,000 years ago. Both of these dates correspond well with the date that The Urantia Book gives for the beginning of the Proterozoic. Furthermore, geologists date the beginning of the transition to an oxygen atmosphere at 2.2 billion years ago, which is precisely an actual date of 550,000,000 years ago.
The physical master controllers began to decrease radioactivity after the implantation of eukaryotic life. 500,000,000 years ago, the corresponding radiometric date is 1.0 billion years ago, not 2.0 billion years ago. This is the time of the transition from the predominance of cyanobacteria to the predominance of algae and other eukaryotic plants. This transition marks the end of the Paleoproterozoic and the beginning of the Mesoproterozoic. Radioactivity continued to decrease until the appearance of animal life 450,000,000 years ago, marking the beginning of the Neoproterozoic. There were, and still are, many forms of life between those that can be classified as true plants or true animals, and these life forms evolved gradually from plants. However, there was a final and sudden transition to a protozoan (literally, the “first animal”) from a borderline animal-like organism (UB 65:2.2-4).
The occurrence of “welds” in evolution demonstrates that there is an intentional force behind the evolutionary process. Consider a flexible plastic ruler that you hold in your hands. When you slowly press your hands together, the ruler initially bends “plastically.” This is like a gradual phase of evolution. But eventually, the ruler breaks. This is analogous to a sudden evolutionary transition. Such two-phase behavior is the typical response of a physical system to the slow, gradual application of an external force or influence.
Based on the ratio of dates in the geological time scale, it is seen that energy transformers established control over the space environment before the first sudden evolutionary transition, and then regulated that environment around a roughly uniform level of subelectronic activity for many subsequent ages. During the Paleozoic and well into the Mesozoic, the ratio of dates shows a slight, perhaps steady, increase. Then, coinciding with the first experimental mammals (UB 60:1.11, UB 60:3.21 ), the ratio of dates begins to decrease. This decrease continues until the dating ratio reaches unity, before the evolution of modern mammal types during the Oligocene epoch of the Cenozoic. From this point on, radiometric dates are a fairly good estimate of the actual dates.
As a result of the clarification in The Urantia Book of the absolute dates of the geologic time scale, the roles of the Master Physical Controllers and Life Carriers, and the existence of sudden transitions in evolution, the history of life on our planet can finally be viewed within a logical framework. Everything that originates from the First Source and Center of all things and beings is inherently logical. God and his “armies of hands” are the originators of the unfolding of life. Evolution is truly "creativity in the
Urantiapedia Note: Content is missing from the original PDF.
The eon is the geochronological time interval corresponding to the largest chronostratigraphic subdivision of the geological time scale, the eonothem. ↩︎
Gneiss ([gnes]) is a metamorphic rock of the continental crust containing quartz, mica, plagioclase feldspars and sometimes alkali feldspar, all large enough to be identified with the naked eye. ↩︎
A prokaryote is a unicellular microorganism whose cellular structure does not include a nucleus, and almost never membranous organelles (the only exception being the thylakoids in cyanobacteria). Current prokaryotes are bacteria and archaea. ↩︎
Meiosis (from the Greek μείωσις, meiōsis, “small”, “lessening”, “diminution” 1), is a process of double cell division discovered by Edouard Van Beneden (1846-1910) and which takes place in the cells (diploid) of the germ line to form gametes (haploid), and not genetically identical. ↩︎
Mitosis, from the Greek mitos meaning “filament” (reference to the appearance of chromosomes under a microscope), refers to the chromosomal events of eukaryotic cell division. It is a non-sexual/asexual duplication (unlike meiosis). It is the division of a mother cell into two strictly genetically identical daughter cells. ↩︎