Geological Reasoning Across Incompatible Timescales

Plain Language Summary

Earth scientists often study the same planet on radically different timescales, yet treat their observations as though they were directly comparable. They are not. A microbial reaction measured over hours, a climate trend observed over decades, and a geological archive spanning millions of years record different parts of the Earth system and preserve different kinds of evidence. This article argues that progress in geoscience depends on confronting these temporal mismatches rather than smoothing them away.