Carboniferous
Sign in to saveThe Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Permian Period, Ma. It is the fifth period of the Phanerozoic eon. In North America, the Carboniferous is often treated as two separate geological periods, the earlier Mississippian and the later Pennsylvanian.
AI overview
The Carboniferous is a geologic period that lasted 60 million years during the Paleozoic era, situated between the Devonian and Permian periods. It matters as a major division of Earth's history and is sometimes split into two periods in North America called the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian.
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Key facts
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- Carboniferous
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- Carboniferous
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- 358.86
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- 0.19
- Geologic timespan.time_end
- 298.9
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- 0.15
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- Mollweide Paleographic Map of Earth, 330 Ma (Serpukhovian Age).png
- Geologic timespan.caption_map
- A map of Earth as it appeared 330 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period, Mississippian Subperiod
- Geologic timespan.timeline
- Carboniferous
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- Formal
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Article
38 sectionsContents
- Etymology and history
- Geology
- Stratigraphy
- Mississippian
- Pennsylvanian
- Cyclothems
- Coal formation
- Palaeogeography
- Variscan-Alleghanian-Ouachita orogeny
- Uralian orogeny
- Laurussia
- Gondwana
- Siberia and Amuria
- Central and East Asia
- Climate
- Temperatures
- Atmospheric oxygen levels
- Effects of climate on sedimentation
- Effects of climate on biodiversity
- Geochemistry
- Magnesium/calcium isotope ratios in seawater
- Strontium isotopic composition of seawater
- Oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in seawater
- Life
- Plants
- Marine invertebrates
- Freshwater and lagoonal invertebrates
- Terrestrial invertebrates
- Fish
- Tetrapods
- Fungi
- Extinction events
- Romer's gap
- Carboniferous rainforest collapse
- See also
- References
- Sources
- External links
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Permian Period, Ma. It is the fifth period of the Phanerozoic eon. In North America, the Carboniferous is often treated as two separate geological periods, the earlier Mississippian and the later Pennsylvanian.
The name Carboniferous means "coal-bearing", from the Latin ("coal") and ("bear, carry"), and refers to the many coal beds formed globally during that time. The first of the modern "system" names, it was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822, based on a study of the British rock succession.