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The Pliocene (/ ˈ p l aɪ. ə s iː n, ˈ p l aɪ. oʊ-/ PLY-ə-seen, PLY-oh-; [6] [7] also Pleiocene) [8] is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58 [9] million years ago (Ma). It is the second and most recent epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by ...
The Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (mPWP) (prior to 2009 known as the Middle Pliocene Warm Period), or the Pliocene Thermal Maximum, was an interval of warm climate during the Pliocene epoch that lasted from 3.3 to 3.0 million years ago (Ma).
This is a list of Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points. Since 1977, Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (abbreviated GSSPs) are internationally agreed upon reference points on stratigraphic sections of rock which define the lower boundaries of stages on the geologic time scale .
This shorter pseudo-period—from after 5 Mya to about 1.5 Mya—straddles the boundary between the Pliocene and the Pleistocene. Thereafter the Plio-Pleistocene formations in East Africa contain, and disclose, the genus Homo developing into archaic Homo sapiens , then to anatomically modern humans .
The Piacenzian is in the international geologic time scale the upper stage or latest age of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma and 2.58 Ma (million years ago). The Piacenzian is after the Zanclean and is followed by the Gelasian (part of the Pleistocene).
The margin has undergone convergence tectonics since the end of the Pliocene. [1] [2] It is believed to be an incipient subduction zone which defines the tectonic boundary between the Amurian and Okhotsk plates. This geological zone is seismically active and has been the source of destructive tsunamis.
The Pliocene featured dramatic climatic changes, which ultimately led to modern species and plants. The Mediterranean Sea dried up for hundreds of thousand years in the Messinian salinity crisis . Along with these major geological events, Africa saw the appearance of Australopithecus , the ancestor of Homo .
The Chibanian stratum, which dates back to the Chiba period, is located along the Yoro River in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture. At the bottom left is a golden spike that marks the boundary between eras. The color-coded stakes on the right mark the boundaries of geological formations, indicating that the Earth's magnetic field was reversing.