Orosirian

The Orosirian Period ( /ˌɒroʊˈsɪəriən/; Greek: ὀροσειρά, romanized: oroseirá, meaning "mountain range") is the third geologic period in the Paleoproterozoic Era and lasted from 2050 Mya to 1800 Mya (million years ago).[1] Instead of being based on stratigraphy, these dates are defined chronometrically.

Vredefort crater is believed to have formed in this period

Orosirian Period 2050–1800 million years ago PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N

A reconstruction of what the Earth may have looked like from space in the early Orosirian, 2 billion years ago.

Events of the Orosirian -2060 — – -2040 — – -2020 — – -2000 — – -1980 — – -1960 — – -1940 — – -1920 — – -1900 — – -1880 — – -1860 — – -1840 — – -1820 — – -1800 — – -1780 — P a l e o p r o t e r o z o i c Rhyacian Orosirian Statherian       ← Beginning of the Boring Billion ← Sudbury Basin structure created by asteroid impact? ← Vredefort crater created by asteroid impact ← Supercontinent Columbia formed Events of the Orosirian Period. Axis scale: millions of years ago.

The later half of the period was an episode of intensive orogeny on virtually all continents.

Two of the largest known impact events on Earth occurred during the Orosirian. Early in the period, 2023 Mya, a large asteroid collision created the Vredefort impact structure. The event that created the Sudbury Basin structure occurred near the end of the period, 1850 Mya.

For the time period from about 2060 to 1780 Mya, an alternative period based on stratigraphy rather than chronometry, named the Columbian, was suggested in the geological timescale review 2012 edited by Gradstein et al.,[2] but as of February 2017, this has not yet been officially adopted by the IUGS.