epoch

Subdivision of geological time; shorter than a period and longer than an age

Also known as geological epoch

Instance of: unit of time
Subclass of: geochronological unit
1
Sources
1.Stated in Q87327114
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Part of: period
1
Sources
1.Stated in Q87327114
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, subperiod

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

The geologic time scale or geological time scale describes how geologic time is divided into standardised intervals. It uses the rock record together with the principles of chronostratigraphy to place rock sequences into their relative age positions, and geochronology techniques, such as radiometric dating, to precisely date the boundaries between them. It is used primarily by Earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships of events in geologic history. The time scale has been developed through the study of rock layers and the observation of their relationships and identifying features such as lithologies, paleomagnetic properties, and fossils. The definition of standardised international units of geological time is the responsibility of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), a constituent body of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), whose primary objective is to precisely define global chronostratigraphic units of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart (ICC) that are used to define divisions of geological time. The chronostratigraphic divisions are in turn used to define geochronologic units.

Overview

All data

19 statements · 21% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: stratigraphic series
epoch
Members / parts: age
subepoch
Studied by: stratigraphy
geochronology
Standards body: International Commission on Stratigraphy

On other databases

8 identifiers linking epoch across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

21%

externally sourced

Source last edited August 31, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). epoch (Q754897). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/epoch-Q754897