Early Pleistocene
Gelasian and Calabrian stages (2.58–0.774 Ma).
Language and route: English ordinal adjective early + already established Pleistocene epoch name. English ordinal adjective early + already established Pleistocene epoch name. English positional term / inherited scientific epoch name.
Literal gloss: early part of the Pleistocene
The name and its history
No single original coiner; IUGS ratified formal rank on 30 January 2020 · formal rank ratified 30 January 2020 (not original word use)
- What does the word literally mean?
- early part of the Pleistocene
- What did the original author mean?
- The older of the three positional subdivisions of the Pleistocene is a formally ratified subepoch, not a newly coined geographical stage.
- Why was the name needed?
- Informal lower/early Pleistocene usages did not necessarily coincide with the post-2009 2.58 Ma lower boundary.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- The Gelasian and Calabrian GSSPs anchor the modern interval; regional glacial and fossil events supplied earlier but variable informal divisions.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Ratified as Lower/Early Pleistocene in January 2020; Gelasian incorporation in 2009 had already altered what earlier literature meant by early Pleistocene.
Further historical context
The older of the three positional subdivisions of the Pleistocene is a formally ratified subepoch, not a newly coined geographical stage.
Informal lower/early Pleistocene usages did not necessarily coincide with the post-2009 2.58 Ma lower boundary.
The Gelasian and Calabrian GSSPs anchor the modern interval; regional glacial and fossil events supplied earlier but variable informal divisions.
Ratified as Lower/Early Pleistocene in January 2020; Gelasian incorporation in 2009 had already altered what earlier literature meant by early Pleistocene.
Editorial qualification
30 January 2020 establishes formal rank, not first use of 'early'; time divisions use Early/Late, rock units Lower/Upper.
Related names
Sources
- ICS, International Chronostratigraphic Chart v2026/06 — Governing classification, chronological sequence and numerical reference ages; not naming priority
- Head et al. (2021), Formal ratification of Pleistocene subseries, Episodes — Documents January 2020 ratification of Lower and Upper Pleistocene subepochs and unratified Upper stage
- ICS, Gelasian GSSP — Monte San Nicola GSSP and IUGS 29 June 2009 boundary transfer
- ICS Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, Major divisions — Institutional history of Quaternary stages, GSSPs, and reassignment of the Gelasian
- ICS, International Stratigraphic Guide: Chronostratigraphic Units — Stage/age, series/epoch and subseries/subepoch distinctions