GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

The years listed are for the beginning of that time period. Example: the Permian began 299 million years ago. Dates represent the official 2009 Geologic Time Scale dates published by the Geological Society of America

Era

Period

 

Epoch

mya

 

Quaternary

 

Holocene

0.01

 

 

 

Pleistocene

2.6

Cenozoic

 

Neogene

Pliocene

5.3

 

 

 

Miocene

23.0

 

Tertiary

 

Oligocene

33.9

 

 

Paleogene

Eocene

55.8

 

 

 

Paleocene

65.5

 

Cretaceous

 

 

145.5

Mesozoic

Jurassic

 

 

201.6

 

Triassic

 

 

251

 

Permian

 

 

299

 

Carboniferous

 

Pennsylvanian

318

 

 

 

Mississippian

359

Paleozoic

Devonian

 

 

416

 

Silurian

 

 

444

 

Ordovician

 

 

488

 

Cambrian

 

 

542

Precambrian

 

 

 

4600