1.8 MILLION – 10 THOUSAND: PLEISTOCENE

- Continents & oceans in current position;
- Four major glacial advances (ice covered up to 30% of Earth’s surface) followed by interglacial warming;
- Sea levels drop & rise as glaciers advance and melt;
- Climate cold & dry world-wide;
- Epoch ends in mass extinction; esp of megafauna;
- All modern plant & animal families present, land & sea;
- Large mammals (megafauna) thrive;
- Tool-using pre-humans appear in Africa & spread throughout the Old World;
- Neanderthal humans appear then disappear;
- Modern humans (Homo sapiens) first appear.
Name | Diameter (km) | Age (megayears) | Dating method | Morphological type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pingualuit, Quebec | 3.44 | 1.4 ± 0.1 | Ar40-Ar39 melt rock | CONFIRMED Simple | Overflight of Pingualuit Crater |
Barringer, Arizona | 1.19 | 0.049 ± 0.003 | Radioactive decay | CONFIRMED Simple | Jointed |
Haviland, Kansas | 0.01 | 0.02 ±0.002 | Geological dating | CONFIRMED Simple | Brenham meteorite |