Loading AI tools
The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time between 2.580 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 0.773 ± 0.005 Ma. The term Early Pleistocene applies to both the Gelasian Age and the Calabrian Age.[1]
| Subdivisions of the Quaternary Period | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System/ Period |
Series/ Epoch |
Stage/ Age |
Age | |
| Quaternary | Holocene | Meghalayan | 0 | 4,200 |
| Northgrippian | 4,200 | 8,200 | ||
| Greenlandian | 8,200 | 11,700 | ||
| Pleistocene | 'Upper' | 11,700 | 129ka | |
| Chibanian | 129ka | 774ka | ||
| Calabrian | 774ka | 1.80Ma | ||
| Gelasian | 1.80Ma | 2.58Ma | ||
| Neogene | Pliocene | Piacenzian | 2.58Ma | 3.60Ma |
Subdivision of the Quaternary Period according to the ICS, as of January 2020.[1]
For the Holocene, dates are relative to the year 2000 (e.g. Greenlandian began 11,700 years before 2000). For the beginning of the Northgrippian a date of 8,236 years before 2000 has been set.[2] The Meghalayan has been set to begin 4,250 years before 2000.[1] 'Tarantian' is an informal, unofficial name proposed for a stage/age to replace the equally informal, unofficial 'Upper Pleistocene' subseries/subepoch. In Europe and North America, the Holocene is subdivided into Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Subboreal, and Subatlantic stages of the Blytt–Sernander time scale. There are many regional subdivisions for the Upper or Late Pleistocene; usually these represent locally recognized cold (glacial) and warm (interglacial) periods. The last glacial period ends with the cold Younger Dryas substage. | ||||
While the Gelasian and the Calabrian have officially been defined by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) to effectively constitute the Early Pleistocene, the succeeding Chibanian and Tarantian ages have yet to be ratified.[3] These proposed ages are unofficially termed the Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene respectively. The Chibanian provisionally spans time from 773 ka to 126 ka, and the Tarantian from then until the definitive end of the whole Pleistocene, c. 9700 BC in the 10th millennium BC.[1]
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
