Zanclean | |||||||||||
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Chronology | |||||||||||
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Formerly part of | Tertiary Period/System | ||||||||||
Etymology | |||||||||||
Name formality | Formal | ||||||||||
Usage information | |||||||||||
Celestial body | Earth | ||||||||||
Regional usage | Global (ICS) | ||||||||||
Time scale(s) used | ICS Time Scale | ||||||||||
Definition | |||||||||||
Chronological unit | Age | ||||||||||
Stratigraphic unit | Stage | ||||||||||
Time span formality | Formal | ||||||||||
Lower boundary definition | Base of the Thvera magnetic event (C3n.4n), which is only 96 ka (5 precession cycles) younger than the GSSP | ||||||||||
Lower boundary GSSP | Heraclea Minoa section, Heraclea Minoa, Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, Italy 37°23′30″N 13°16′50″E / 37.3917°N 13.2806°E | ||||||||||
Lower GSSP ratified | 2000[4] | ||||||||||
Upper boundary definition | Base of Gauss/Gilbert (C2An/C2Ar) magnetic reversal | ||||||||||
Upper boundary GSSP | Punta Piccola Section, Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Italy 37°17′20″N 13°29′36″E / 37.2889°N 13.4933°E | ||||||||||
Upper GSSP ratified | January 1997[5] |
The Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma. It is preceded by the Messinian Age of the Miocene Epoch, and followed by the Piacenzian Age.
The Zanclean can be correlated with regionally used stages, such as the Opoitian of New Zealand,[6] and the Tabianian or Dacian of Central Europe. It also corresponds to the late Hemphillian to mid-Blancan North American Land Mammal Ages. In California, the Zanclean roughly corresponds to the middle part of the Delmontian stage.[7]
A stage in the Upper Tertiary of the west coast of N. America