Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochronology (a scientific branch of geology that aims to determine the age of rocks).
Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that studies the ages of rock strata in relation to time.. The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to arrange the sequence of deposition and the time of deposition of all rocks within a geological region, and eventually, the entire geologic record of the Earth.
On the geologic time scale, the Holocene epoch starts at the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age (c. 10,000 BC) and continues to the present. The beginning of the Mesolithic is usually considered to correspond to the beginning of the Holocene epoch.
More slowly decaying isotopes are useful for longer periods of time, but less accurate in absolute years. With the exception of the radiocarbon method , most of these techniques are actually based on measuring an increase in the abundance of a radiogenic isotope, which is the decay-product of the radioactive parent isotope.
The BP scale is sometimes used for dates established by means other than radiocarbon dating, such as stratigraphy. [5] [6] This usage differs from the recommendation by van der Plicht & Hogg, [7] followed by the Quaternary Science Reviews, [8] [9] both of which requested that publications should use the unit "a" (for "annum", Latin for "year") and reserve the term "BP" for radiocarbon estimations.
The offset 32.184 seconds was the 1976 estimate of the difference between Ephemeris Time (ET) and TAI, "to provide continuity with the current values and practice in the use of Ephemeris Time". [ 9 ] TAI is never revised once published and TT(TAI) has small errors relative to TT(BIPM), [ 6 ] on the order of 10-50 microseconds.
The TU (for time unit) is a unit of time defined as 1024 μs for use in engineering. The galactic year, based on the rotation of the galaxy and usually measured in million years. [2] The geological time scale relates stratigraphy to time. The deep time of Earth's past is divided into units according to events that took place in each period.
The division between Pennsylvanian and Mississippian comes from North American stratigraphy. In North America, where the early Carboniferous beds are primarily marine limestones, the Pennsylvanian was in the past treated as a full-fledged geologic period between the Mississippian and the Permian. In parts of Europe, the Mississippian and ...