Stage (stratigraphy)
In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition. A given stage of rock and the corresponding age of time will by convention have the same name, and the same boundaries.
Rock series are divided into stages, just as geological epochs are divided into ages. Stages can be divided into smaller stratigraphic units called chronozones. (See chart at right for full terminology hierarchy.)
The term faunal stage is sometimes used, referring to the fact that the same fauna (animals) are found throughout the layer (by definition).
Read more about Stage (stratigraphy): Defining, International Standardization, Stages and Lithostratigraphy
Famous quotes containing the word stage:
“But the effort, the effort! And as the marrow is eaten out of a mans bones and the soul out of his belly, contending with the strange rapacity of savage life, the lower stage of creation, he cannot make the effort any more.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)