| Subdivisions of theQuaternary 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 theICS, 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 intoPreboreal,Boreal,Atlantic,Subboreal, andSubatlantic stages of theBlytt–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. Thelast glacial period ends with the coldYounger Dryas substage. | ||||
TheEarly Pleistocene is an unofficialsub-epoch in the internationalgeologic timescale inchronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of thePleistocene Epoch within the ongoingQuaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time between 2.580 ± 0.005Ma (million years ago) and 0.773 ± 0.005 Ma. The term Early Pleistocene applies to both theGelasian Age and theCalabrian Age.[1]
While the Gelasian and the Calabrian have officially been defined by theInternational Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) to effectively constitute the Early Pleistocene, the succeedingChibanian andTarantian ages have yet to be ratified.[3] These proposed ages are unofficially termed theMiddle Pleistocene andLate 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 the10th millennium BC.[1]
