Subdivision of the Quaternary according to the ICS, as of 2021.[1][2] Vertical axis scale: millions of years ago.
Etymology
Name formality
Formal
Name ratified
January 2020
Synonym(s)
Middle Pleistocene Ionian
Usage information
Celestial body
Earth
Regional usage
Global (ICS)
Time scale(s) used
ICS Time Scale
Definition
Chronological unit
Age
Stratigraphic unit
Stage
Time span formality
Formal
Lower boundary definition
1.1 m below the directional midpoint of the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic reversal
Lower boundary GSSP
Chiba, Japan 35°17′39″N140°08′47″E / 35.2943°N 140.1465°E / 35.2943; 140.1465
Lower GSSP ratified
January 2020[3]
Upper boundary definition
Not formally defined
Upper boundary definition candidates
Marine Isotope Substage 5e
Upper boundary GSSP candidate section(s)
None
The Chibanian stratum, which dates back to the Chiba period, is located along the Yoro River in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture. At the bottom left is a golden spike that marks the boundary between eras. The color-coded stakes on the right mark the boundaries of geological formations, indicating that the Earth's magnetic field was reversing.
The Chibanian, widely known as the Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period.[4] The Chibanian name was officially ratified in January 2020. It is currently estimated to span the time between 0.770 Ma (770,000 years ago) and 0.126 Ma (126,000 years ago), also expressed as 770–126 ka. It includes the transition in palaeoanthropology from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic over 300 ka.
The Chibanian is preceded by the Calabrian and succeeded by the proposed Tarantian.[5] The beginning of the Chibanian is the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal, when the Earth's magnetic field last underwent reversal.[6] Its end roughly coincides with the termination of the Penultimate Glacial Period and the onset of the Last Interglacial period (corresponding to the beginning of Marine Isotope Stage 5).[7]
The term Middle Pleistocene was in use as a provisional or "quasi-formal" designation by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). While the three lowest ages of the Pleistocene, the Gelasian, Calabrian and Chibanian have been officially defined, the Late Pleistocene has yet to be formally defined.[8]
^Cohen, K. M.; Finney, S. C.; Gibbard, P. L.; Fan, J.-X. (January 2020). "International Chronostratigraphic Chart" (PDF). International Commission on Stratigraphy. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
^Mike Walker; et al. (December 2018). "Formal ratification of the subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch (Quaternary System/Period)" (PDF). Episodes. 41 (4). Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS): 213–223. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2018/018016. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
^"Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point". International Commission of Stratigraphy. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
^Hornyak, Tim (30 January 2020). "Japan Puts Its Mark on Geologic Time with the Chibanian Age". Eos – Earth & Space Science News. American Geophysical Union. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
^Cohen, K. M.; Finney, S. C.; Gibbard, P. L.; Fan, J.-X. (January 2020). "International Chronostratigraphic Chart" (PDF). International Commission on Stratigraphy. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
^Gradstein, Felix M.; Ogg, James G.; Smith, Alan G., eds. (2004). A Geological Time Scale 2004 (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 28. ISBN 9780521786737.
^P. L. Gibbard (17 April 2015). "The Quaternary System/Period and its major sub-divisions". Russian Geology and Geophysics. Special Issue: Topical Problems of Stratigraphy and Evolution of the Biosphere. 56 (4). Elsevier BV: 686–688. Bibcode:2015RuGG...56..686G. doi:10.1016/j.rgg.2015.03.015. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
The Chibanian, widely known as the Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division...
(IUGS) to effectively constitute the Early Pleistocene, the succeeding Chibanian and Tarantian ages have yet to be ratified. These proposed ages are unofficially...
Pleistocene is divided into four stages or ages, the Gelasian, Calabrian, Chibanian (previously the unofficial "Middle Pleistocene"), and Upper Pleistocene...
Human Temporal range: 0.3–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Chibanian – present Male (left) and female (right) adult humans, Thailand, 2007 Scientific...
Tarantian Age of the geologic time scale, preceded by the officially ratified Chibanian (commonly known as the Middle Pleistocene). The beginning of the Late...
birds) extinction. Humans expand into Near Oceania and the Americas. 0.129 Chibanian Mid-Pleistocene Transition occurs, high amplitude 100 ka glacial cycles...
flake technologies have been present in West Africa since at least the Chibanian (~780–126 thousand years ago or ka) in northern, open Sahelian zones,...
1967 (Piacenzian stage of North America) †Podiceps dixi Brodkorp, 1963 (Chibanian to the Tarantian stages of Florida, United States) †Podiceps howardae...
000 to 35,000 years ago. The Middle Paleolithic was in the geological Chibanian (Middle Pleistocene) and Late Pleistocene ages. According to the theory...
the planet Jupiter Ionian stage, a proposed name for the now-defined Chibanian stage in stratigraphy. Ionic, of or relating to an ion, an atom or molecule...
Reindeer (Caribou) Temporal range: Chibanian to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ A reindeer in Norway Conservation status Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)...
Preceding the Late Pleistocene is the Middle Pleistocene sub-epoch, or Chibanian Stage/Age, which also awaits ratification and tentatively spans the time...
discovered by a group of Iranian archaeologists that dates back to the late Chibanian. Yarshalman is a Middle Paleolithic shelter that was probably occupied...
Evolutionary origin of religion History of religion Holocene calendar Chibanian Paleolithic religion Prehistoric religion Religion and mythology Late...
inhabited the Zhoukoudian cave site in modern northern China during the Chibanian. The first fossil, a tooth, was discovered in 1921, and the Zhoukoudian...
Gelasian 2.58 to 1.8 Ma Calabrian 1.8 Ma to 781 ka Middle Pleistocene ("Chibanian") ("Ionian") 781 to 126 ka Upper/Late Pleistocene ("Tarantian") 126 to...
Cromer Pre-illinois E ? MIS 19 790–761 Günz Cromer Cromer Pre-illinois Chibanian MIS 18 761-712 Günz Cromer Cromer Pre-illinois E ? MIS 17 712-676 Günz...
Achalinus hunanensis Temporal range: Chibanian - recent, 0.48–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom:...
Paranthropus Temporal range: Piacenzian–Chibanian, 2.9–1.2 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Skull of P. boisei (MGL 95211) Scientific classification Domain:...
conditions indicates either a more suitable climate in this period (the Chibanian stage of the Pleistocene) or alternatively better human adapting skills...
techniques, pushes back the arrival of the first Homo species to the early Chibanian (late Pleistocene), between 631,000 and 777,000 years ago. Unearthed in...
Joshua; Mihailović, Dušan (2022-05-01). "Early Neanderthals in contact: The Chibanian (Middle Pleistocene) hominin dentition from Velika Balanica Cave, Southern...
succession originated in a period starting in the Zanclean and ending in the Chibanian. As the main square of the old town, it has an elevation of 330 meters...
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