| Calabrian | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chronology | |||||||||
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| 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 | Approximately 8 m after the end of magnetic polarity chronozone C2n (Olduvai) | ||||||||
| Lower boundary GSSP | Vrica Section, Calabria, Italy 39°02′19″N 17°08′05″E / 39.0385°N 17.1348°E | ||||||||
| Lower GSSP ratified | 5 December 2011 (as base of Calabrian)[3] | ||||||||
| Upper boundary definition | 1.1 m below the directional midpoint of the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic reversal | ||||||||
| Upper boundary GSSP | Chiba, Japan 35°17′39″N 140°08′47″E / 35.2943°N 140.1465°E | ||||||||
| Upper GSSP ratified | 2020[4] | ||||||||
Calabrian is a subdivision of the Pleistocene Epoch of the geologic time scale, defined as 1.8 Ma—774,000 years ago ± 5,000 years, a period of ~1.026 million years.
The end of the stage is defined by the last magnetic pole reversal (781 ± 5 Ka) and plunge into an ice age and global drying possibly colder and drier than the late Miocene (Messinian) through early Pliocene (Zanclean) cold period.[5] Originally the Calabrian was a European faunal stage primarily based on mollusk fossils. It has become the second geologic age in the Early Pleistocene.