Eocene
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Date: 2019-02-03

Eocene, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=9419 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Eocene
#Geological_epochs
#Paleogene_geochronology
Eocene

The Eocene () Epoch, lasting from , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the "Grande Coupure" (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Siberia and in what is now Chesapeake Bay. As with other geologic periods, the strata that define the start and end of the epoch are well identified, though their exact dates are slightly uncertain.

The name "Eocene" comes from the Ancient Greek ("ēṓs", "dawn") and ("kainós", "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch.

The Eocene epoch is conventionally divided into early, middle, and late subdivisions. The corresponding rocks are referred to as lower, middle, and upper Eocene. The Ypresian stage constitutes the lower, the Priabonian stage the upper; and the Lutetian and Bartonian stages are united as the middle Eocene.

The Eocene Epoch contained a wide variety of different climate conditions that includes the warmest climate in the Cenozoic Era and ends in an icehouse climate. The evolution of the Eocene climate began with warming after the end of the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at 56 million years ago to a maximum during the Eocene Optimum at around 49 million years ago. During this period of time, little to no ice was present on Earth with a smaller difference in temperature from the equator to the poles. Following the maximum ...