The Rhyacian

The Rhyacian Period lasted from 2.3 billion years to 2.05 billion years ago and it has been defined clearly in chronometrical order rather than by stratigraphically.
The name of this period defines its major characteristic. It is the age of volcanic activities and the name suggest that. The Greek word from which the name had been derived means lava flow.


Life in the Rhyacian period
It is a common belief among the geologists and scientists that the first evolution of the eukaryotes took place in the Rhyacian period.


Rhyacian period: period of lava and igneous rocks rich in minerals
Due to high volcanism and flow of lava there were rich depositions of igneous rocks full of minerals. One of such regions which still contain evidence of igneous rocks is in South Africa and known as the Bushveld Complex. This place is still acting as a source of mines rich in chromium, andalusite, platinum, fluorspar, and vanadium.

Bushveld is also the home of the Merensky Reef which is famous for the platinum deposits and is known as the richest sources of platinum in the entire world. However, it is still a mystery to know that whether the platinum in this region is extra-terrestrial or magma because the place is near to the largest impact crater on the Earth, the Vredefort crater.


Due to high volcanism greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide were produced and this process caused the end of Huranian glaciations. The end of the Huranian glaciations was thought to take place before 2.1 billion years ago.
Billions of years ago our earth was completely different as we are seeing it today.
At the very beginning it was devoid of plant life, animals, continents and even oxygen in the atmosphere. After several periods of evolution there came life and in the form of microorganism and bacteria. Later there was a rise in the level of atmospheric oxygen. These processes of evolution continued through billions of ages after which life began to appear in the form of plants and animals. Oxygen levels also gained prominent increase in the atmosphere. Finally through several ages evolutions the Earth shaped itself in the present form full of life and diversities. The timespan from the ancient to the modern has been divided into different eons. These eons have respective eras which have individual periods. Some of these periods have their own epochs. In fact, there are extensive categories of the earth's timespan. Each of these eons, eras, periods, and epochs has their importance in revealing the Earth from its ancient to modern features. The Rhyacian Period is one of the significant periods which have contributed to the development of the earth in its process of evolution. Several interesting factors affecting the earth's geological feature had taken place in this period.