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Eocene

The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era.

AI overview

The Eocene is a period in Earth's history that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago, making it the second major time division of the Paleogene Period. This epoch is significant because it represents a key chapter in the Cenozoic Era, the long stretch of geological time that followed the extinction of the dinosaurs.

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Key facts

Geologic timespan.name: Eocene
Geologic timespan.color: Eocene
Geologic timespan.time_start: 56.00
Geologic timespan.time_end: 33.9
Geologic timespan.image_map: Mollweide Paleographic Map of Earth, 45 Ma (Lutetian Age).png
Geologic timespan.caption_map: A map of Earth 45 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch, Lutetian Age
Geologic timespan.timeline: Paleogene
Geologic timespan.name_formality: Formal
Geologic timespan.celestial_body: earth
Geologic timespan.usage: Global (ICS)
Geologic timespan.timescales_used: ICS Time Scale
Geologic timespan.chrono_unit: Epoch
Geologic timespan.strat_unit: Series
Geologic timespan.timespan_formality: Formal
Geologic timespan.lower_boundary_def: Strong negative anomaly in δ13C values at the PETM
Geologic timespan.lower_gssp_location: Dababiya section, Luxor, Egypt
Geologic timespan.lower_gssp_accept_date: 2003
Geologic timespan.upper_boundary_def: LAD of Planktonic Foraminifers Hantkenina and Cribrohantkenina

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Wikidata facts

Image: Mesonyx.jpg

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Eocene
start time: 56000000-0
end time: 33900000-0
sRGB color hex triplet: FEB979

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~39 min read

Article

30 sections

Contents

Etymology
Geology
Boundaries
Stratigraphy
Palaeogeography and tectonics
Climate
Early Eocene
Equable climate problem
Large lakes
Ocean heat transport
Orbital parameters
Polar stratospheric clouds
Middle Eocene
Late Eocene
Flora
Fauna
Vertebrates
Mammals
Birds
Fishes
Reptiles
Molluscs
Arthropods
Other phyla
Microbes
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern 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 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope 12C. The average temperature of Earth at the beginning of the Eocene was about 27 degrees Celsius. 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.