What's the difference between geologic column and geologic time scale?
1 Answer
Oct 4, 2017
One looks at types of rocks and their age, the other is just age
Explanation:
A geologic column (Stratigraphic column) is a representation of where different rocks sit relative to each other. A Strat column (for short) shows characteristic features of these rocks and can display their age. It is a good way to understand the geological sequence of an area.
A geological timescale is simply a scale that puts Earth's history into different eras, epochs and ages. Each section has an age attached to it, so you can look at it and say "500 million years ago, the Earth was in the Cambrian period". This time scale is being constantly updated as measuring the age of rocks becomes more precise. Here is the latest version:
