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The Quaternary Period is the geologic time period from the end of the Pliocene Epoch roughly 1.8-1.6 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary includes 2 geologic subdivisions -- the Pleistocene and the Holocene Epochs.

The term Quaternary ("fourth") was proposed by Jules Desnoyers in 1829 to address sediments of France's Seine Basin that seemed clearly to be younger than Tertiary Period rocks. The Quaternary Period follows the Tertiary Period and extends to the present. The Quaternary roughly covers the time span of recent glaciations, including the last glacial retreat. An occasional alternative usage places the start of the Quaternary at the onset of North Pole glaciation approximately 3 million years ago and includes portions of the upper Pliocene. Some people do not recognize the Quaternary and consider it an informal term included in the NeogeneNeogene Period A unit of geologic time consisting of the Miocene and Pliocene Epochs. The Neogene Period follows the Paleogene Period and is followed by the Quaternary Era. The terms 'Neogene System' and 'Upper Tertiary System' have also been used to desc, as can be seen from the 20032003 is a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar), and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Summary Perhaps the defining global event of the year 2003 was the Invasion of Iraq launched by the U edition of the International Stratigraphic Chart, published by the International Commission on StratigraphyThe International Commission on Stratigraphy concerns itself with stratigraphy on a global scale. It is the largest scientific body within the International Union of Geological Sciences. One of its main aims is to establish a standard and global geologic.

The 1.8-1.6 million years of the Quaternary represents the time during which recognizable humans existed. Continental driftThe concept of continental drift was first proposed by Alfred Wegener. In 1912 he noticed that the shapes of continents on either side of the Atlantic Ocean seem to fit together (for example, Africa and South America). Benjamin Franklin and others had not of less than 100km is largely irrelevant to such a short time period. The climateThe climate is the weather averaged over a long period of time. A descriptive saying is that "climate is what you expect, weather is what you get". The IPCC glossary definition is: : Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the “average weather”, o was one of periodic glaciations with continental glaciers moving as far from the poles as 40 degrees latitude. Few major new animals evolved, again presumably because of the short -- in geologic terms -- duration of the period. There was a major extinction of large mammals in Northern areas at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch. Many forms such as the sabertooth cat, mammoths, mastodons, glyptodonts, etc., became extinct worldwide. Others, including horses, camels and cheetahs became extinct in North America.