It’s not difficult to look at a GTS and fully understand the sequence of events in Earth’s past as recorded in rocks, but it is very difficult - maybe impossible - to really understand the scale and magnitude of deep time. The best our brains can do is use metaphors & analogies, and there are many ways geologists have used metaphor to help conceptualize billions of years to beings who only live for a few decades.

One very popular method is to imagine the history of Earth compressed into one year. Another metaphor compresses Earth’s past into one 24-hour period. Here is a short video showing several ways to imagine geologic time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=tkxWmh-tFGs (video for reference)

In this exercise we will explore deep time using the metaphor of a road trip, in this case across the continental United States, and using distance to stand for time. Earth’s past is a long and winding road, and we’ll use the route of a virtual road trip along real US highways from one ocean coast to the other to represent a journey through 4,600 million years of time.

Specifically, our road trip will take us from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco, California across the continent to the Brooklyn Bridge , New York, New York; both iconic landmarks that attract visitors from around the world.

Let’s begin the exercise by opening up Google Maps . Search for the destination “Golden Gate Bridge, San Fransisco, CA” and choose that location. Your waypoint should land right in the middle of the bridge. That’s going to be our starting point, which will represent today, right now in the Holocene Epoch.

Next, use the Directions function and search for “Brooklyn Bridge, New York, NY”, then select. If reversed, switch the starting point to Golden Gate Bridge and the destination to Brooklyn Bridge.

Take the option of the driving route via I-80. The total highway distance from GGB to BB along I-80 is around 4,700 km, which is not far off Earth’s age in millions of years: ~4,600. For our purposes that’s close enough. In this exercise we will treat every kilometer traveled from GGB to BB as representing one (1) million years, tracing a path on land to stand for a path back in time. Your route should look something like this:

Secure https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Golden+Gate+Bridge+San+Francisco +CA/Brooklyn+Bridge,+New-York-NY+10038/@41.2800351,-112.4237569 4.652/da. Other Bookmarks TERRITORIES Hudson Bay NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR o Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA Brooklyn Bridge, New York, NY 10038 Canada MANITOBA Add destination ALBERTA QUEBEC BRITISH COLUMBIA PE SASKATCHEWAN OPTIONS ONTARIO NOVA SCOTIA MAINE Send directions to your phone Ottawa VT via I-80 E Fastest route now, avoids road closures 44 h Toronto NEW YOR NORTH DAKOTA 4,702 km WASHINGTON MINNESOTA This route has tolls. A Your destination is in a different time zone MONTANA WISCONSIN : MICHIGAN Brooklyn Bridge SOUTH DAKOTA DETAILS Chica O HIO OREGON Washington IDAHO IO 44 h 4,702 km IS WEST VIRGINIA 45 h 4,813 km -via I-80 E and I-70 E NEBRASKA 45 h 4,813 km NORTH CAROLINA United States MISSOURI NEVADA KANSAS -via I-70 E and i-80 E 47 h COLORADO TENNESSEES. Golden Gate Bridge SOUTH CAROLINA 4,991 km ORNIA OKLAHOMA s Vegas MiSSISSIPPI GEORGIA Los Angeles 47 h 4,991 km Dallas NEW MEXICO TEXAS LOUISIANA FLORIDA Houston Gulf of Mexico Cuba Mexico Mexico City oogle Guatemala Honduras Map data 2018 Google, INEGI United States Terms Send feedback 200 mi

In our metaphorical journey, every step along that route from the middle of the GGB going east takes us further back in time, at 1 million years per kilometer. Let’s see how far along our route compares with how long ago, beginning with the time scale of the Holocene Epoch.

The Holocene Epoch began 11,700 years ago when the last major northern-hemisphere ice age ended. As a calculation exercise, let’s determine how far on our route you would need to travel to hurtle backwards to the faraway time of 11,700 years ago, as the ice sheets retreated and the Great Lakes formed.

Question 2 (1 point)

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Calculate how many meters of distance are equivalent to 11,700 years, using the metaphor-conversion-factor of 1,000,000 years per kilometer. In other words, if 1,000 meters = 1,000,000 years, how many meters is 11,700 years?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

if 1000m 1000000years then let unknown m... View the full answer