Stenian

The Stenian Period

The Stenian Period was a long, long time ago — about 1.2 billion to 1 billion years before today! It was the last part of a big chunk of time called the Mesoproterozoic Era. Back then, Earth looked very different from today.

One of the biggest things that happened during the Stenian Period was that a giant group of land called a supercontinent named Rodinia came together. Imagine all the puzzle pieces of Earth fitting into one big shape! This big land was surrounded by a huge ocean called the Mirovian.

Scientists learned about this time by looking at special rocks and using dating tricks, because there are very few fossils from then. But they did find some very old tiny plants, like Bangiomorpha pubescens, which was one of the first living things that had boys and girls.

The Stenian name comes from an Ancient Greek word, stenós, meaning “narrow.” It refers to the narrow rock belts formed back then. Before this name was used, scientists called this time the Riphean age.

The world back then had less bright sunshine, more air made of carbon dioxide, and very little oxygen — quite different from our world today!