Quaternary:
(1) The youngest geologic period; includes the present time. (2) The latest period of time in the stratigraphic column, 0 – 2 million years, represented by local accumulations of glacial (Pleistocene) and post-glacial (Holocene) deposits which continue, without change of fauna, from the top of the Pliocene (Tertiary). The QUATERNARY appears to be an artificial division of time to separate pre-human from post-human sedimentation. As thus defined, the QUATERNARY is increasing in duration as man’s ancestry becomes longer.
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