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4.5 BILLION YEARS AGO A- mars-sized planet hit earth, sending debris into orbit around earth. A fraction of that debris formed the moon and the rest returned to earth. 1 BILLION YEARS AGO As ancient Europe (“Baltic”) and Brazil (“Amazonia”) collided with Proto-North America, sedimentary and igneous rocks Were deformed and metamorphosed to produce the rocks of the Grenville Mountains. These are the oldest rocks found in Connecticut. 460 MILLION YEARS AGO The Taconic Mountains, part of the Appalachian mountain chain, formed when volcanic islands and ocean sediments collided with North America. 380 MILLION YEARS AGO The rocks of the Appalachian Mountains continued to form as a continental mass earth scientists call “Avalonia” collided with eastern North America. 350-250 MILLION YEARS AGO The supercontinent Pangaea (meaning “all lands”) was formed when all the continents came together. During this time, the Appalachian mountains continued to form. The mountains were as high as the Himalayas are today, reaching elevations of 20,000-30,000 feet above sea level. 230-210 MILLION YEARS AGO The breakup of Pangaea started as the supercontinent began to drift apart, ultimately creating the Atlantic Ocean basin. 200 MILLION YEARS AGO As Pangaea continued to break up, some smaller rifts perpendicular to the main rift did not open completely, producing failed rift valleys like Connecticut’s central valley (Newark Terrain). The famous Brownstones of Connecticut are made from sediments that were deposited in the rift valley. The flood basalt lavas that erupted along the rifts are now preserved as traprock ridges. One lava flow was about 200 meters (over 600 feet) thick! Dinosaurs roamed the Connecticut valley and left footprints along the muddy margins of rift valley lakes. One type of large footprint is named eubrontes and is the Connecticut state fossil. 65 MILLION YEARS AGO A 10-kilometer diameter asteroid struck Earth near the Yucatan Peninsula (chicxulub crater) in the Gulf of Mexico. Many earth scientists think that the resulting cataclysms caused a mass extinction that wiped out many species, including dinosaurs like tyrannosaurus rex. 25,000 YEARS AGO A glacier during the Wisconsinan glacial period covered Connecticut. The ice may have been several kilometers (over a mile) thick in places. 20,000 TO 12,000 YEARS AGO The glaciers melted, uncovering Connecticut. The terminal moraines that were left behind formed; Long Island, Block Island, Martha ’s Vineyard and Nantucket.