Carboniferous
For the album by Zu see Carboniferous (album).
Carboniferous period
359.2 - 299 million years ago
PreЄ
Є
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Mean atmo-
spheric O2 con-
tent over peri-
od duration
ca. 32.5 Vol %[1]
(163 % of modern level)
Mean atmo-
spheric CO2
content over
period duration
ca. 800 ppm[2]
(3 times pre-industrial level)
Mean surface
temperature
over period
duration
ca. 14 °C [3]
(0 °C above modern level)
Sea level (above
present day)
Falling from 120m to present day
level throughout Mississippian, then
rising steadily to about 80m at end
of period[4]
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that
extends from the end of the Devonian period, about
359.2 ± 2.5 Ma (million years ago), to the beginning of the
Permian period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Ma (ICS, 2004)[5].
The Carboniferous was a time of glaciation, low sea
level and mountain building; a minor marine extinction
event occurred in the middle of the period. The name
comes from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous
means "coal-bearing." Many beds of coal were laid down
all over the world during this period, hence the name.
Subdivisions
Key events in the Carboniferous
view • discuss •
-360 —
–
-355 —
–
-350 —
–
-345 —
–
-340 —
–
-335 —
–
-330 —
–
-325 —
–
-320 —
–
-315 —
–
-310 —
–
-305 —
–
-300 —
–
-295 —
Permian
Devonian
Tournaisian
Visean
Serpukhovian
Bashkirian
Moscovian
Kasimovian
Gzhelian
C
a
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carboniferous
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Palæozoic
An approximate timescale of key Carboniferous events.
Axis scale: millions of years ago.
In the USA the Carboniferous is usually broken into Mis-
sissippian (earlier) and Pennsylvanian (later) Epochs.
The Faunal stages from youngest to oldest, together
with some of their subdivisions, are:
Late Pennsylvanian: Gzhelian (most recent)
• Noginskian / Virgilian (part)
Late Pennsylvanian: Kasimovian
• Klazminskian
• Dorogomilovksian / Virgilian (part)
• Chamovnicheskian / Cantabrian / Missourian
• Krevyakinskian / Cantabrian