Modern dating techniques have given a range of dates as to when the various geologic time periods have started, as they are listed below:
Beginning dateEra Period Epoch (Est. millions of years)
Cenozoic Quaternary Holocene 10,000 years ago
Pleistocene 1.9
Tertiary Pliocene 6
Miocene 25
Oligocene 38
Eocene 55
Paleocene 65
Mesozoic Cretaceous 135
Jurassic 200
Triassic 250
Paleozoic Permian 285
Carboniferous (divided into 350 Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods by some in the U.S.)
Devonian 410
Silurian 425
Ordovician 500
Cambrian 570
Precambrian Proterozoic 2500
Archeozoic 3800
Azoic 4600
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