The Cenozoic Era

(to the end of the Ice Age)

 

Calendar years – about 678 years long
Atomic years – about 65 million years long

 

 

Atomic, or Geologic Years ago Geological period Calendar, or orbital, years before Christ Calendar, or orbital years after creation

Biblical events

Gen. 11: 17-25
65.5 – 23.0 million Tertiary-Paleogene 3023 - 2988 2787 - 2822

Joktan born (Peleg’s brother)
23.0 – 1.81 million Tertiary-Neogene 2988 – 2864 2822 - 2946  
2.6 million Ice Age starts c. 2900 2910 Job born?
1.81 million - 2345 BC Quaternary 2864 – 2345 2946 – 3465 Time of Job, Terah born near end
 
The speed of light by 2345 BC  was nearly what it is now (which means a progressively closer match between radiometric dates and calendar dates).  The rate of slowing had decreased significantly although it was still measurable even into the twentieth century.
 
The majority of continental ‘drift’ or movement took place during the initial two hundred years or so of this era, becoming less catastrophic and damaging as this time came to a close with the one last catastrophic meteorite hit which corrected the axis tilt in part.  This change of axis tilt is documented and referenced by research astronomer George Dodwell as well as Moe Mandelkehr and others, and occurred in the closing year of this timeline, 2345 BC. 

 

The separating continents and upthrust of the mountain ranges generated many tsunamis and earthquakes, as mentioned in the book of Job.  Continuing high mantle temperatures contributed, along with the earth movements, to continuing volcanism. 

 

Abram would be born shortly after this date (in 2322 BC) and ‘modern history’ would commence.  The first Egyptian Dynasty is recorded at close to 2767 BC. 

 

Following the massive impacts in the days of Peleg, the high axis tilt of the years dealt with here resulted in drastic seasonal variations.  These marked seasonal variations favored the mammals, which had stable body temperatures.  Angiosperms with their hard seeds were also favored, although tropical areas were still habitable by the earlier dominant plants and animals.  Deciduous trees and shrubs became predominant, as they could cope with the colder winters.  The high axis tilt also produced the ice age referred to in Job, an ice age whose grip extended into the Middle East.   At this time caves, for many, would be the best shelter, which is also mentioned in Job.

 

During this time the moving continents, rising mountains, and continued volcanic activity would produce dramatic changes in weather patterns as the years went by.  They would also be the cause of violent storms sweeping over the polar areas and dumping the vast amounts of snow and ice we see today.  Storms systems and weather patterns would not be as stable as we think of them, thereby causing those who try to date these ice layers today to interpret them as seasonal deposits as we know seasons today.  This may not be an accurate way to look at them, since they were deposited in such tumultuous times.  Layers from this time would not correspond to seasons, but to incoming storm systems, some warm and some cold, as the earth began to settle into the conditions and patterns we know now.

 

These extremes of seasons and variability of ecological niches would have also had the effect of not only separating populations of animals and plants, but of producing rapid speciation in areas.  Natural selection would have weeded out all but the most hardy in the harsher climes, thus leaving only them to breed there. 

 

About Job:

He may well be the son of Joktan, brother of Peleg, listed in Genesis 10:29 as Jobab.  This corresponds with several other indicators:  the Alexandrian Septuagint lists his proper name as Jobab in the last verses (which were deleted in the Masoretic text), where it also indicates that his total life span was 248 years.  Abraham is said to have lived to a good old age of 175, and if that was an old age in Abraham’s time, then Job lived earlier.  There is also an indication in something Bildad says to Job in chapter 8:8-10:

“Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow. Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?”

In other words, Bildad and the others had access to those who had lived very long life spans, in comparison with whom theirs were ‘but a shadow.’  This would indicate their knowledge, firsthand, of far longer lifespans.  This would be knowledge appropriate to the first generation after Peleg.