Deep Time Cards
Deep Time Cards
Deep Time Cards
Unpack a history of our Earth.
58 beautifully illustrated cards, giving 4.6 billion years of Earth history in a tactile, easy to use format. Each card provides a 100-million-year summary of the key transitions that have occurred across Earth’s deep history, with associated reference data and inspiring quotes.
This advanced-edition pack has been designed to empower anyone to learn about Earth history and gain a perspective of the immensity of deep time. The cards enable a 4.6km Deep Time Walk to be taken anywhere in the world and include a number of special features for planning and group facilitation. They put into context the destructive impact humans are having on the integral functioning of our living Earth, and encourage positive action and active hope in the midst of the collective challenges we face.
Card Features
Earth History
Flip through a 4.6bn year chronological history of Earth, each card providing a summary of events as they occur in 100-million-year time segments. Explore Earth’s accretion, the formation of the Moon, plate tectonics and much more.
Beautiful Imagery
Dwell on beautiful high-definition imagery illustrating Earth history, with stunning specially licensed artworks from leading paleoartists including Dr. Mark Wilton, Sam Falconer, Richard Bizley and Henning Dalhoff.
Reference Data
Look up numerical data tracking moon distance, sun luminosity and day length as they change over deep time.
Inspiring Quotes
Ponder inspiring quotes from luminaries such as Charles Darwin, John Muir, Rachel Carson, James Lovelock, Donna Haraway and over 40 others.
Plate Tectonics
Flick through the last 800 million years of plate tectonics, with illustrations from renowed geologist and paleogeographer Dr. Christopher Scotese.
Evolutionary Leaps
Learn about Earth’s key evolutionary leaps including first life, photosynthesis, the development of eukaryotic cells, multicellular life, edicarians, The Cambrian Explosion and much more.
Comprehend Scale
Get a sense of the scale of Earth’s 4.6 billion year history. When done as a 4.6km walk, all of human history is represented in just the last 20cm. An included 10cm ruler illustrates the evolution of human culture over the last 100,000 years.
Illustrated Timeline
Review the high-level graphical timeline card which provides an overview of the major transitions across Earth’s 4.6bn year history.
Plan Deep Time Walks
Plan and lead your own 4.6km Deep Time Walks with features including thematic suits, suggestions for stopping points, km distance travelled and suggestions/resources for group facilitation. Please remember to adhere to our conditions of use.
Additional cards in this pack include:
- NASA imagery of Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot and Earthrise, with accompanying text and poetry by Drew Dellinger.
- Resources and ideas for encouraging group participation to engender positive action and active hope.
- Information on the Earth Charter Organisation.
- A card outlining the living Earth as a non-linear set of interacting systems, with an overview of the Stockholm Resilience Centre Planetary Boundaries framework.
Select Endorsements
“What a gem! A powerful scientific and geopoetic evocation of how humanity is woven into the fabric of Earth’s remarkable past. Fascinating and humbling in equal measure.” Professor Iain Stewart, UNESCO Chair in Geoscience and Society & Director of the Sustainable Earth Institute, Plymouth University.
“Sometimes the biggest ideas arrive in the smallest packets – so if you want to hold the span of space and time in your hands, these beautiful, mind-stretching Deep Time Cards will show you the way.” – Kate Raworth, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University & author of Doughnut Economics
“The Deep Time Cards are both exquistely beautiful and informative. The description of the Earth’s deep time history is well-researched and a useful reference.” – Prof. Christopher R. Scotese, Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago
“The Deep Time Cards are a project of great imagination embedded in scientific facts. This is a perfect way to identify ourselves with the planet earth and care for Gaia.” – Satish Kumar, Editor Emeritus, Resurgence Magazine and VP, RSPCA
“A fascinating way to explore the vast story of the Earth; from its birth in the mists of time, to the evolution of rich and myriad lifeforms, and on to the mere moment in geological time when human activity causes intense ecological destruction”– Arran Stibbe, Professor of Ecological Linguistics, University of Gloucestershire and Founder and convenor of the Ecolinguistics Association.