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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 formation of 3 to 4 km (1.9 to 2.5 mi) thick ice sheets equate to a global sea level drop of about 120 m (390 ft) The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma (million years ago) and is ongoing.
[18] [19] The Pleistocene covers the recent period of repeated glaciations. The name Plio-Pleistocene has, in the past, been used to mean the last ice age. Formerly, the boundary between the two epochs was drawn at the time when the foraminiferal species Hyalinea baltica first appeared in the marine section at La Castella, Calabria, Italy. [20]
The Pleistocene extends from to 11,700 years before present. [10] The modern continents were essentially at their present positions during the Pleistocene , the plates upon which they sit probably having moved no more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) relative to each other since the beginning of the period.
The Earth is currently in an interglacial period called the Holocene epoch. [1] However, there is debate as to whether it is actually a separate epoch or merely an interglacial period within the Pleistocene epoch. [2] [3] Between 9,000 and 5,000 years ago there was a warm period called the Holocene climatic optimum.
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).
The Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT), also known as the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution (MPR), [1] is a fundamental change in the behaviour of glacial cycles during the Quaternary glaciations. [2] [3] The transition lasted around 550,000 years, [4] from 1.25 million years ago until 0.7 million years ago approximately, in the Pleistocene epoch. [5]
c. 2.58 Ma – start of the Pleistocene epoch, the Stone Age and the current Quaternary Period; emergence of the genus Homo. Smilodon, the best known of the sabre-toothed cats, appears. c. 2.4 Ma – The Amazon River takes its present shape in South America. c. 2.0–1.5 Ma – The basin of the Congo River acquires its present shape.