Misplaced Pages

#204795

76-577: Paratethys was peculiar due to its paleogeography : it consisted of a series of deep basins, formed during the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic as an extension of the rift that formed the Central Atlantic Ocean . These basins were connected with each other and the global ocean by narrow and shallow seaways that often limited water exchange and caused widespread long-term anoxia . Paratethys

152-610: A brackish sea in the Pannonian Basin . Many of these would disappear before the start of the Pleistocene . At present, only the Black Sea , Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea remain of what was once a vast inland sea. Paleogeography Palaeogeography (or paleogeography ) is the study of historical geography , generally physical landscapes . Palaeogeography can also include

228-620: 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 geologic time. The chronostratigraphic divisions are in turn used to define geochronologic units. The geologic time scale is a way of representing deep time based on events that have occurred throughout Earth's history ,

304-577: A formal proposal to the ICS for the establishment of the Anthropocene Series/Epoch. Nevertheless, the definition of the Anthropocene as a geologic time period rather than a geologic event remains controversial and difficult. An international working group of the ICS on pre-Cryogenian chronostratigraphic subdivision have outlined a template to improve the pre-Cryogenian geologic time scale based on

380-667: A giant anoxic sea . The western and central Paratethys basins experienced intense tectonic activity and anoxia during the Oligocene and early Miocene and became filled with sediments . Local gypsum and salt evaporitic basins formed in the East Carpathian region during the early Miocene. The Eastern Paratethys basin, holding most of the water of Paratethys, remained anoxic for almost 20 million years (35–15 Mya), and during this time Paratethys acted as an enormous carbon sink trapping organic matter in its sediments. The Paratethys anoxia

456-455: A key role in the field of petroleum geology , because ancient geomorphological environments of the Earth 's surface are preserved in the stratigraphic record. Palaeogeographers also study the sedimentary environment associated with fossils for clues to the evolutionary development of extinct species. Palaeogeography is furthermore crucial to the understanding of palaeoclimatology , due to

532-454: A lesser extent, in the Pannonian depression in central Hungary . Some 12 million years ago, slightly before the onset of the late Miocene , the ancient sea transformed into a megalake that covered more than 2.8 million square kilometers, from the eastern Alps to what is now Kazakhstan , and characterized by salinities generally ranging between 12 and 14%. During its five-million-year lifetime,

608-617: A machine-readable Resource Description Framework / Web Ontology Language representation of the time scale, which is available through the Commission for the Management and Application of Geoscience Information GeoSciML project as a service and at a SPARQL end-point. Some other planets and satellites in the Solar System have sufficiently rigid structures to have preserved records of their own histories, for example, Venus , Mars and

684-529: A rock that cuts across another rock must be younger than the rock it cuts across. The law of included fragments that states small fragments of one type of rock that are embedded in a second type of rock must have formed first, and were included when the second rock was forming. The relationships of unconformities which are geologic features representing a gap in the geologic record. Unconformities are formed during periods of erosion or non-deposition, indicating non-continuous sediment deposition. Observing

760-419: A specific interval of geologic time, and only this time span. Eonothem, erathem, system, series, subseries, stage, and substage are the hierarchical chronostratigraphic units. A geochronologic unit is a subdivision of geologic time. It is a numeric representation of an intangible property (time). These units are arranged in a hierarchy: eon, era, period, epoch, subepoch, age, and subage. Geochronology

836-532: A system/series (early/middle/late); however, the International Commission on Stratigraphy advocates for all new series and subseries to be named for a geographic feature in the vicinity of its stratotype or type locality . The name of stages should also be derived from a geographic feature in the locality of its stratotype or type locality. Informally, the time before the Cambrian is often referred to as

SECTION 10

#1732837075205

912-643: A time span of about 4.54 ± 0.05 Ga (4.54 billion years). It chronologically organises strata, and subsequently time, by observing fundamental changes in stratigraphy that correspond to major geological or paleontological events. For example, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , marks the lower boundary of the Paleogene System/Period and thus the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene systems/periods. For divisions prior to

988-458: A wider sense, correlating strata across national and continental boundaries based on their similarity to each other. Many of the names below erathem/era rank in use on the modern ICC/GTS were determined during the early to mid-19th century. During the 19th century, the debate regarding Earth's age was renewed, with geologists estimating ages based on denudation rates and sedimentary thicknesses or ocean chemistry, and physicists determining ages for

1064-437: 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). It is used primarily by Earth scientists (including geologists , paleontologists , geophysicists , geochemists , and paleoclimatologists ) to describe

1140-543: Is an internationally agreed-upon reference point on a stratigraphic section that defines the lower boundaries of stages on the geologic time scale. (Recently this has been used to define the base of a system) A Global Standard Stratigraphic Age (GSSA) is a numeric-only, chronologic reference point used to define the base of geochronologic units prior to the Cryogenian. These points are arbitrarily defined. They are used where GSSPs have not yet been established. Research

1216-439: Is divided into chronostratigraphic units and their corresponding geochronologic units. The subdivisions Early and Late are used as the geochronologic equivalents of the chronostratigraphic Lower and Upper , e.g., Early Triassic Period (geochronologic unit) is used in place of Lower Triassic System (chronostratigraphic unit). Rocks representing a given chronostratigraphic unit are that chronostratigraphic unit, and

1292-556: Is less frequent) remains unchanged. For example, in early 2022, the boundary between the Ediacaran and Cambrian periods (geochronologic units) was revised from 541 Ma to 538.8 Ma but the rock definition of the boundary (GSSP) at the base of the Cambrian, and thus the boundary between the Ediacaran and Cambrian systems (chronostratigraphic units) has not been changed; rather, the absolute age has merely been refined. Chronostratigraphy

1368-484: Is ongoing to define GSSPs for the base of all units that are currently defined by GSSAs. The standard international units of the geologic time scale are published by the International Commission on Stratigraphy on the International Chronostratigraphic Chart; however, regional terms are still in use in some areas. The numeric values on the International Chronostratigrahpic Chart are represented by

1444-457: Is still a useful concept. The principle of lateral continuity that states layers of sediments extend laterally in all directions until either thinning out or being cut off by a different rock layer, i.e. they are laterally continuous. Layers do not extend indefinitely; their limits are controlled by the amount and type of sediment in a sedimentary basin , and the geometry of that basin. The principle of cross-cutting relationships that states

1520-502: Is the element of stratigraphy that deals with the relation between rock bodies and the relative measurement of geological time. It is the process where distinct strata between defined stratigraphic horizons are assigned to represent a relative interval of geologic time. A chronostratigraphic unit is a body of rock, layered or unlayered, that is defined between specified stratigraphic horizons which represent specified intervals of geologic time. They include all rocks representative of

1596-405: Is the scientific branch of geology that aims to determine the age of rocks, fossils, and sediments either through absolute (e.g., radiometric dating ) or relative means (e.g., stratigraphic position , paleomagnetism , stable isotope ratios ). Geochronometry is the field of geochronology that numerically quantifies geologic time. A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP)

SECTION 20

#1732837075205

1672-646: The Anthropocene is a proposed epoch/series for the most recent time in Earth's history. While still informal, it is a widely used term to denote the present geologic time interval, in which many conditions and processes on Earth are profoundly altered by human impact. As of April 2022 the Anthropocene has not been ratified by the ICS; however, in May 2019 the Anthropocene Working Group voted in favour of submitting

1748-529: The Brothers of Purity , who wrote on the processes of stratification over the passage of time in their treatises . Their work likely inspired that of the 11th-century Persian polymath Avicenna (Ibn Sînâ, 980–1037) who wrote in The Book of Healing (1027) on the concept of stratification and superposition, pre-dating Nicolas Steno by more than six centuries. Avicenna also recognised fossils as "petrifications of

1824-592: The Cryogenian , arbitrary numeric boundary definitions ( Global Standard Stratigraphic Ages , GSSAs) are used to divide geologic time. Proposals have been made to better reconcile these divisions with the rock record. Historically, regional geologic time scales were used due to the litho- and biostratigraphic differences around the world in time equivalent rocks. The ICS has long worked to reconcile conflicting terminology by standardising globally significant and identifiable stratigraphic horizons that can be used to define

1900-744: The Outer Carpathians , Transylvanian and Pannonian basins. Salt mines extract this middle-Miocene salt in Transylvania: Turda , Ocna Mures , Ocna Sibiului and Praid ; in the Eastern and Carpathians: Wieliczka , Bochnia , Cacica and Slanic Prahova ; and Ocnele Mari in the Southern Carpathians, but evaporites are also present in areas west of the Carpathians: Maramureș , eastern Slovakia (Solivar mine near Prešov ) and, to

1976-530: The Precambrian or pre-Cambrian (Supereon). While a modern geological time scale was not formulated until 1911 by Arthur Holmes , the broader concept that rocks and time are related can be traced back to (at least) the philosophers of Ancient Greece . Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570–487  BCE ) observed rock beds with fossils of shells located above the sea-level, viewed them as once living organisms, and used this to imply an unstable relationship in which

2052-513: The supercontinent Pangaea broke up during the Triassic (200 million years ago). The name Paratethys was first used by Vladimir Laskarev in 1924. Laskarev's definition included only fossils and sedimentary strata from the sea of the Neogene system . This definition was later adjusted also to include the Oligocene series . The existence of a separate water body in these periods was deduced from

2128-668: The Commission on Stratigraphy (applied in 1965) to become a member commission of IUGS led to the founding of the ICS. One of the primary objectives of the ICS is "the establishment, publication and revision of the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart which is the standard, reference global Geological Time Scale to include the ratified Commission decisions". Following on from Holmes, several A Geological Time Scale books were published in 1982, 1989, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. However, since 2013,

2204-464: The Earth's Moon . Dominantly fluid planets, such as the giant planets , do not comparably preserve their history. Apart from the Late Heavy Bombardment , events on other planets probably had little direct influence on the Earth, and events on Earth had correspondingly little effect on those planets. Construction of a time scale that links the planets is, therefore, of only limited relevance to

2280-515: The Earth's time scale, except in a Solar System context. The existence, timing, and terrestrial effects of the Late Heavy Bombardment are still a matter of debate. The geologic history of Earth's Moon has been divided into a time scale based on geomorphological markers, namely impact cratering , volcanism , and erosion . This process of dividing the Moon's history in this manner means that

2356-447: The ICS has taken responsibility for producing and distributing the ICC citing the commercial nature, independent creation, and lack of oversight by the ICS on the prior published GTS versions (GTS books prior to 2013) although these versions were published in close association with the ICS. Subsequent Geologic Time Scale books (2016 and 2020 ) are commercial publications with no oversight from

Paratethys - Misplaced Pages Continue

2432-404: The ICS, and do not entirely conform to the chart produced by the ICS. The ICS produced GTS charts are versioned (year/month) beginning at v2013/01. At least one new version is published each year incorporating any changes ratified by the ICS since the prior version. The following five timelines show the geologic time scale to scale. The first shows the entire time from the formation of the Earth to

2508-415: The ICS. While some regional terms are still in use, the table of geologic time conforms to the nomenclature , ages, and colour codes set forth by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in the official International Chronostratigraphic Chart. The International Commission on Stratigraphy also provide an online interactive version of this chart. The interactive version is based on a service delivering

2584-615: The Mediterranean fell dry during the Messinian salinity crisis (about 6 million years ago) there were phases when Paratethys water flowed into the deep Mediterranean basins. During the Pliocene epoch (5.33 to 2.58 million years ago) the former Paratethys was divided into a couple of inland seas that were at times completely separated from each other. An example was the Pannonian Sea ,

2660-716: The Paratethys Sea. Paratethys formed about 34 Mya (million years ago) at the beginning of the Oligocene epoch, when the northern region of the Tethys Ocean (Peri-Tethys) was separated from the Mediterranean region of the Tethys realm due to the formation of the Alps , Carpathians , Dinarides , Taurus and Elburz mountains. During the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, this part of Eurasia

2736-518: The bodies of plants and animals", with the 13th-century Dominican bishop Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280) extending this into a theory of a petrifying fluid. These works appeared to have little influence on scholars in Medieval Europe who looked to the Bible to explain the origins of fossils and sea-level changes, often attributing these to the ' Deluge ', including Ristoro d'Arezzo in 1282. It

2812-566: The cooling of the Earth or the Sun using basic thermodynamics or orbital physics. These estimations varied from 15,000 million years to 0.075 million years depending on method and author, but the estimations of Lord Kelvin and Clarence King were held in high regard at the time due to their pre-eminence in physics and geology. All of these early geochronometric determinations would later prove to be incorrect. The discovery of radioactive decay by Henri Becquerel , Marie Curie , and Pierre Curie laid

2888-762: The corresponding geochronologic unit sharing the same name with a change to the suffix (e.g. Phanerozoic Eonothem becomes the Phanerozoic Eon). Names of erathems in the Phanerozoic were chosen to reflect major changes in the history of life on Earth: Paleozoic (old life), Mesozoic (middle life), and Cenozoic (new life). Names of systems are diverse in origin, with some indicating chronologic position (e.g., Paleogene), while others are named for lithology (e.g., Cretaceous), geography (e.g., Permian ), or are tribal (e.g., Ordovician ) in origin. Most currently recognised series and subseries are named for their position within

2964-453: The developments in mass spectrometry pioneered by Francis William Aston , Arthur Jeffrey Dempster , and Alfred O. C. Nier during the early to mid- 20th century would finally allow for the accurate determination of radiometric ages, with Holmes publishing several revisions to his geological time-scale with his final version in 1960. The establishment of the IUGS in 1961 and acceptance of

3040-404: The different layers of stone unless they had been upon the shore and had been covered over by earth newly thrown up by the sea which then became petrified? And if the above-mentioned Deluge had carried them to these places from the sea, you would find the shells at the edge of one layer of rock only, not at the edge of many where may be counted the winters of the years during which the sea multiplied

3116-502: The fossil fauna, including mollusks, fish and ostracods . In periods in which the Paratethys or parts of it were separated from each other or from other oceans, a separate fauna developed which is found in sedimentary deposits. In this way, the paleogeographical development of the Paratethys can be studied. Laskerev's description of the Paratethys was anticipated much earlier by Sir Roderick Murchison in chapter 13 of his 1845 book. One of

Paratethys - Misplaced Pages Continue

3192-414: The foundational principles of determining the correlation of strata relative to geologic time. Over the course of the 18th-century geologists realised that: The apparent, earliest formal division of the geologic record with respect to time was introduced during the era of Biblical models by Thomas Burnet who applied a two-fold terminology to mountains by identifying " montes primarii " for rock formed at

3268-524: The geologic records from Paratethys particularly difficult to correlate with those from other oceans or seas because their faunas evolved separately at times. Stratigraphers of the Paratethys, therefore, have their own sets of stratigraphic stages which are still used as alternatives for the official geologic timescale of the ICS . The Paratethys spread over a large area in Central Europe and western Asia. In

3344-458: The geologic time scale of Earth. This table is arranged with the most recent geologic periods at the top, and the oldest at the bottom. The height of each table entry does not correspond to the duration of each subdivision of time. As such, this table is not to scale and does not accurately represent the relative time-spans of each geochronologic unit. While the Phanerozoic Eon looks longer than

3420-492: The ground work for radiometric dating, but the knowledge and tools required for accurate determination of radiometric ages would not be in place until the mid-1950s. Early attempts at determining ages of uranium minerals and rocks by Ernest Rutherford , Bertram Boltwood , Robert Strutt , and Arthur Holmes, would culminate in what are considered the first international geological time scales by Holmes in 1911 and 1913. The discovery of isotopes in 1913 by Frederick Soddy , and

3496-556: The impact of the positions of continents and oceans on influencing global and regional climates. Palaeogeographical evidence contributed to the development of continental drift theory, and continues to inform current plate tectonic theories, yielding information about the shape and latitudinal location of supercontinents such as Pangaea and ancient oceans such as Panthalassa , thus enabling reconstruction of prehistoric continents and oceans. Geologic timescale The geologic time scale or geological time scale ( GTS )

3572-514: The key characteristics of the Paratethys realm, that is differentiating it from the Tethys Ocean , is the widespread development of endemic fauna, adapted to fresh and brackish waters like those that still exist in recent waters of the Caspian Sea. This distinctive fauna in which univalves of freshwater origin such as Limnex and Neritinex are associated with forms of Cardiacae and Mytili, common to partially saline or brackish waters, makes

3648-561: The layers of sand and mud brought down by the neighboring rivers and spread them over its shores. And if you wish to say that there must have been many deluges in order to produce these layers and the shells among them it would then become necessary for you to affirm that such a deluge took place every year. These views of da Vinci remained unpublished, and thus lacked influence at the time; however, questions of fossils and their significance were pursued and, while views against Genesis were not readily accepted and dissent from religious doctrine

3724-453: The lower boundaries of chronostratigraphic units. Defining chronostratigraphic units in such a manner allows for the use of global, standardised nomenclature. The International Chronostratigraphic Chart represents this ongoing effort. Several key principles are used to determine the relative relationships of rocks and thus their chronostratigraphic position. The law of superposition that states that in undeformed stratigraphic sequences

3800-550: The megalake was home to many species found nowhere else, including molluscs and ostracods as well as miniature versions of whales, dolphins and seals. In 2023, Guinness World Records named this lake the largest in earth's history. Near the end of the Miocene, an event known as the Khersonian crisis, marked by rapidly fluctuating environmental factors and sea levels, wiped out much of the unique fish fauna of this megalake. When parts of

3876-651: The neighbouring Mediterranean region, probably via the Trans-Tethyan Corridor, an ancient sea-strait located in modern Slovenia . The open marine environments of Paratethys were short-lived, and halfway through the middle Miocene, progressive uplift of the central European mountain ranges and a eustatic drop isolated Paratethys from the global ocean triggering a salinity crisis in Central Paratethys. The " Badenian Salinity Crisis " spanned between 13.8 and 13.4 Mya. Thick evaporitic beds (salt and gypsum) formed in

SECTION 50

#1732837075205

3952-489: The oldest strata will lie at the bottom of the sequence, while newer material stacks upon the surface. In practice, this means a younger rock will lie on top of an older rock unless there is evidence to suggest otherwise. The principle of original horizontality that states layers of sediments will originally be deposited horizontally under the action of gravity. However, it is now known that not all sedimentary layers are deposited purely horizontally, but this principle

4028-408: The pertinent time span. As of April 2022 these proposed changes have not been accepted by the ICS. The proposed changes (changes from the current scale [v2023/09]) are italicised: Proposed pre-Cambrian timeline (GTS2012), shown to scale: Current ICC pre-Cambrian timeline (v2023/09), shown to scale: The following table summarises the major events and characteristics of the divisions making up

4104-452: The present, but this gives little space for the most recent eon. The second timeline shows an expanded view of the most recent eon. In a similar way, the most recent era is expanded in the third timeline, the most recent period is expanded in the fourth timeline, and the most recent epoch is expanded in the fifth timeline. Horizontal scale is Millions of years (above timelines) / Thousands of years (below timeline) First suggested in 2000,

4180-485: The principles of superposition, original horizontality, lateral continuity, and cross-cutting relationships. From this Steno reasoned that strata were laid down in succession and inferred relative time (in Steno's belief, time from Creation ). While Steno's principles were simple and attracted much attention, applying them proved challenging. These basic principles, albeit with improved and more nuanced interpretations, still form

4256-467: The rest, it merely spans ~539 million years (~12% of Earth's history), whilst the previous three eons collectively span ~3,461 million years (~76% of Earth's history). This bias toward the most recent eon is in part due to the relative lack of information about events that occurred during the first three eons compared to the current eon (the Phanerozoic). The use of subseries/subepochs has been ratified by

4332-630: The rock record to bring it in line with the post-Tonian geologic time scale. This work assessed the geologic history of the currently defined eons and eras of the pre-Cambrian, and the proposals in the "Geological Time Scale" books 2004, 2012, and 2020. Their recommend revisions of the pre-Cryogenian geologic time scale were (changes from the current scale [v2023/09] are italicised): Proposed pre-Cambrian timeline (Shield et al. 2021, ICS working group on pre-Cryogenian chronostratigraphy), shown to scale: Current ICC pre-Cambrian timeline (v2023/09), shown to scale: The book, Geologic Time Scale 2012,

4408-536: The same time the Alpine orogeny , a tectonic phase by which the Alps, Carpathians , Dinarides , Taurus , Elburz and many other mountain chains along the southern rim of Eurasia were formed. The combination of a drop in sea level and tectonic uplift resulted in the partial disconnection of the Tethys and Paratethys domains. Due to poor connectivity with the global ocean, the Paratethys realm became stratified and turned into

4484-474: The sea had at times transgressed over the land and at other times had regressed . This view was shared by a few of Xenophanes's contemporaries and those that followed, including Aristotle (384–322 BCE) who (with additional observations) reasoned that the positions of land and sea had changed over long periods of time. The concept of deep time was also recognised by Chinese naturalist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) and Islamic scientist -philosophers, notably

4560-413: The study of human or cultural environments. When the focus is specifically on landforms , the term paleogeomorphology is sometimes used instead. Paleomagnetism , paleobiogeography , and tectonic history are among its main tools. Palaeogeography yields information that is crucial to scientific understanding in a variety of contexts. For example, palaeogeographical analysis of sedimentary basins plays

4636-537: The time during which the rocks were laid down, and the collection of rocks themselves (i.e., it was correct to say Tertiary rocks, and Tertiary Period). Only the Quaternary division is retained in the modern geologic time scale, while the Tertiary division was in use until the early 21st century. The Neptunism and Plutonism theories would compete into the early 19th century with a key driver for resolution of this debate being

SECTION 60

#1732837075205

4712-730: The time of the 'Deluge', and younger " monticulos secundarios" formed later from the debris of the " primarii" . Anton Moro (1687–1784) also used primary and secondary divisions for rock units but his mechanism was volcanic. In this early version of the Plutonism theory, the interior of Earth was seen as hot, and this drove the creation of primary igneous and metamorphic rocks and secondary rocks formed contorted and fossiliferous sediments. These primary and secondary divisions were expanded on by Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti (1712–1783) and Giovanni Arduino (1713–1795) to include tertiary and quaternary divisions. These divisions were used to describe both

4788-562: The time scale boundaries do not imply fundamental changes in geological processes, unlike Earth's geologic time scale. Five geologic systems/periods ( Pre-Nectarian , Nectarian , Imbrian , Eratosthenian , Copernican ), with the Imbrian divided into two series/epochs (Early and Late) were defined in the latest Lunar geologic time scale. The Moon is unique in the Solar System in that it is the only other body from which humans have rock samples with

4864-585: The time they were laid down in is the geochronologic unit, e.g., the rocks that represent the Silurian System are the Silurian System and they were deposited during the Silurian Period. This definition means the numeric age of a geochronologic unit can be changed (and is more often subject to change) when refined by geochronometry while the equivalent chronostratigraphic unit (the revision of which

4940-473: 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 geologic time is the responsibility of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS),

5016-426: The type and relationships of unconformities in strata allows geologist to understand the relative timing the strata. The principle of faunal succession (where applicable) that states rock strata contain distinctive sets of fossils that succeed each other vertically in a specific and reliable order. This allows for a correlation of strata even when the horizon between them is not continuous. The geologic time scale

5092-548: The unit Ma (megaannum, for 'million years '). For example, 201.4 ± 0.2 Ma, the lower boundary of the Jurassic Period, is defined as 201,400,000 years old with an uncertainty of 200,000 years. Other SI prefix units commonly used by geologists are Ga (gigaannum, billion years), and ka (kiloannum, thousand years), with the latter often represented in calibrated units ( before present ). The names of geologic time units are defined for chronostratigraphic units with

5168-764: The west it included in some stages the Molasse basin north of the Alps ; the Vienna Basin , the Outer Carpathian Basin , the Pannonian Basin , and further east to the basin of the current Black Sea and the Caspian Sea until the current position of the Aral Sea . The boundary between the Eocene and Oligocene epochs was characterized by a big drop of the global ( eustatic ) sea level and sudden steep cooling of global climates. At

5244-526: The work of James Hutton (1726–1797), in particular his Theory of the Earth , first presented before the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1785. Hutton's theory would later become known as uniformitarianism , popularised by John Playfair (1748–1819) and later Charles Lyell (1797–1875) in his Principles of Geology . Their theories strongly contested the 6,000 year age of the Earth as suggested determined by James Ussher via Biblical chronology that

5320-700: Was "shut down" during the middle Miocene, some 15 million years ago, when a widespread marine transgression , known as the Badenian Flooding, improved connections with the global ocean and triggered the ventilation of the deep waters of Paratethys. After the Badenian Flooding , in the middle Miocene , Paratethys was characterized by open-marine environments. Brackish and lacustrine basins turned into ventilated seas. Rich marine fauna containing sharks (e.g., megalodon ), corals , marine mammals , foraminifera and nanoplankton spread throughout Paratethys from

5396-429: Was accepted at the time by western religion. Instead, using geological evidence, they contested Earth to be much older, cementing the concept of deep time. During the early 19th century William Smith , Georges Cuvier , Jean d'Omalius d'Halloy , and Alexandre Brongniart pioneered the systematic division of rocks by stratigraphy and fossil assemblages. These geologists began to use the local names given to rock units in

5472-645: Was at times reconnected with the Tethys or its successors (the Mediterranean Sea or the Indian Ocean ) during the Oligocene and the early and middle Miocene times, but at the onset of the late Miocene epoch, the tectonically trapped sea turned into a megalake from the eastern Alps to what is now Kazakhstan . From the Pliocene epoch onward (after 5 million years ago), Paratethys became progressively shallower. Today's Black Sea , Caspian Sea , Aral Sea , Lake Urmia , Namak Lake and others are remnants of

5548-663: Was covered by shallow seas that formed the northern margins of the Tethys Ocean. However, because Anatolia, the southern boundary of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean , is a part of the original continent of Cimmeria , the last remnant of the Paleo-Tethys might be oceanic crust under the Black Sea. The Tethys Ocean formed between Laurasia (Eurasia and North America) and Gondwana (Africa, India, Antarctica, Australia and South America) when

5624-415: Was in some places unwise, scholars such as Girolamo Fracastoro shared da Vinci's views, and found the attribution of fossils to the 'Deluge' absurd. Niels Stensen, more commonly known as Nicolas Steno (1638–1686), is credited with establishing four of the guiding principles of stratigraphy. In De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento dissertationis prodromus Steno states: Respectively, these are

5700-535: Was not until the Italian Renaissance when Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) would reinvigorate the relationships between stratification, relative sea-level change, and time, denouncing attribution of fossils to the 'Deluge': Of the stupidity and ignorance of those who imagine that these creatures were carried to such places distant from the sea by the Deluge...Why do we find so many fragments and whole shells between

5776-476: Was the last commercial publication of an international chronostratigraphic chart that was closely associated with the ICS. It included a proposal to substantially revise the pre-Cryogenian time scale to reflect important events such as the formation of the Solar System and the Great Oxidation Event , among others, while at the same time maintaining most of the previous chronostratigraphic nomenclature for

#204795