Encyclopedia

Geologic Timescale
EraPeriodEpochApproximate durationApproximate number of years ago
CenozoicQuaternaryHolocene10,000 years ago to the present 
Pleistocene2.01
TertiaryPliocene112
Miocene1213
Oligocene1125
Eocene2236
Paleocene7158
MesozoicCretaceous 7165
Jurassic 54136
Triassic 35190
PaleozoicPermian 55225
Carboniferous 65280
Devonian 60345
Silurian 20405
Ordovician 75425
Cambrian 100500
Precambrian1  >4,000600

1 Not an era but the time preceding the Cambrian.

geologic timescale

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

More on Geologic Timescale table from Fact Monster:

  • Permian period - Permian period Permian period [from Perm, Russia], sixth and last period of the Paleozoic era (see ...
  • epoch - epoch epoch, unit of geologic time that is a subdivision of a period. The Pleistocene and Holocene ...
  • Carboniferous period - Carboniferous period Carboniferous period , fifth period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see ...
  • Cretaceous period - Cretaceous period Cretaceous period , third and last period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time ...
  • Pleistocene epoch - Pleistocene epoch Pleistocene epoch , 6th epoch of the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic ...

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