Editing Nectarian

{{short description|Geologic period, 3920 to 3850 million years ago}}
{{Infobox geologic timespan
| name                         = Nectarian
| manual_color                 = rgb(228.0, 83.0, 18.0)
| top_bar                      = Lunar
| time_start                   = 3920
| time_end                     = 3850
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| timeline                     = Lunar periods
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<!--Usage Information-->
| celestial_body               = Moon
| usage                        = 
| timescales_used              = Lunar geologic timescale
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<!--Definition-->
| chrono_unit                  = Period
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The '''Nectarian Period''' of the [[lunar geologic timescale]] was from 3.920 billion years ago to 3.850 billion years ago. It is the period during which the [[Nectaris Basin]] and other major basins were formed by large [[impact event]]s. Ejecta from Nectaris form the upper part of the densely cratered terrain found in lunar highlands. The period ended with the formation of the [[Imbrium basin]], which initiated the [[Imbrian]] Period.<ref name=Liu_Guo_2018/> Magnetic anomalies found in some Nectarian Period basins suggest that the Moon possessed a core [[Dynamo theory|dynamo]] [[magnetic field]] at that time.<ref name=Hood_2011/>

{{Timeline_Lunar_Geological_Timescale}}

==Relationship to Earth's geologic time scale==
Since little or no [[geology|geological]] evidence on [[Earth]] exists from the time spanned by the Nectarian Period of the Moon, the Nectarian has been used by at least one notable scientific work<ref>{{cite book | title = A Geologic time scale 1989 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1990 |author1=W. Harland |author2=R. Armstrong |author3=A. Cox |author4=L. Craig |author5=A. Smith |author6=D. Smith }}</ref> as an unofficial subdivision of the terrestrial [[Hadean]] [[eon (geology)|eon]].

==See also==
*{{C|Hadean|Hadean eon-related topics}}

==References==
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{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=Liu_Guo_2018>{{cite encyclopedia
 | title=Lunar geological timescale
 | last1=Liu | first1=J. | last2=Guo | first2=D.
 | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of lunar science
 | year=2018 | pages=1-3
 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dijun-Guo/publication/324568484_Lunar_Geological_Timescale/links/5fd1d7cb45851568d150c43a/Lunar-Geological-Timescale.pdf
 | access-date=2024-09-01 }}</ref>

<ref name=Hood_2011>{{cite journal
 | title=Central magnetic anomalies of Nectarian-aged lunar impact basins: Probable evidence for an early core dynamo
 | last=Hood | first=Lon L. | date=February 2011
 | journal=Icarus | volume=211 | issue=2 | pages=1109–1128
 | doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2010.08.012 | bibcode=2011Icar..211.1109H }}</ref>

}}

{{Hadean Footer}}
{{Geological history|c}}

[[Category:Nectarian| ]]
[[Category:Hadean|*03]]
[[Category:Lunar geologic periods]]