Meghalayan

Meghalayan
0.0042 – 0 Ma
Chronology
Etymology
Name formalityFormal
Name ratified14 June 2018[1][2]
Usage information
Celestial bodyEarth
Regional usageGlobal (ICS)
Time scale(s) usedICS Time Scale
Definition
Chronological unitAge
Stratigraphic unitStage
Time span formalityFormal
Lower boundary definition4.2 kiloyear event
Lower boundary GSSPMawmluh Cave, Meghalaya, India
25°15′44″N 91°42′54″E / 25.2622°N 91.7150°E / 25.2622; 91.7150
Lower GSSP ratified14 June 2018
Upper boundary definitionOngoing
Upper boundary GSSPN/A
Upper GSSP ratifiedN/A

The Meghalayan age is the name given in 2018, by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, to the current age or latest geologic age – or uppermost stage of the Quaternary.[3] It is also the upper, or latest, of three subdivisions of the Holocene epoch or series.[4][5] This way of breaking down time is based only on geology; for example, it is unrelated to the three-age system of historical periods into which human development is sometimes divided.

  1. ^ Walker, Mike; Head, Martin J.; Berkelhammer, Max; Björck, Svante; Cheng, Hai; Cwynar, Les; Fisher, David; Gkinis, Vasilios; Long, Anthony; Lowe, John; Newnham, Rewi; Rasmussen, Sune Olander; Weiss, Harvey (1 December 2018). "Formal ratification of the subdivision of the Holocene Series/ Epoch (Quaternary System/Period): two new Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSPs) and three new stages/subseries" (PDF). Episodes. 41 (4). Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS): 213–223. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2018/018016. Retrieved 28 August 2020. This proposal on behalf of the SQS has been approved by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and formally ratified by the Executive Committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).
  2. ^ Head, Martin J. (17 May 2019). "Formal subdivision of the Quaternary System/Period: Present status and future directions". Quaternary International. 500: 32–51. Bibcode:2019QuInt.500...32H. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2019.05.018.
  3. ^ Cohen, K. M.; Finney, S. C.; Gibbard, P. L.; Fan, J-X. (January 2020). "International Chronostratigraphic Chart" (PDF). International Commission on Stratigraphy. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  4. ^ Radha-Udayakumar, Ganesh (19 July 2018). "Scientists call our era the Meghalayan Age. Here's what the world was like when it began". India Today. New Delhi: Living Media India Limited. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  5. ^ "'Meghalayan Age': Latest phase in Earth's history named after Indian state, began 4,200 years ago". Scroll.in. 19 July 2018.