Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
late Eocene Epoch
References
Images
Table 4: Geologic time scale. To see more information about a period, select one from the chart.
Britannica AI Icon

late Eocene Epoch

geochronology
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Table 4: Geologic time scale. To see more information about a period, select one from the chart.
Table 4: Geologic time scale. To see more information about a period, select one from the chart.

The Late Eocene Epoch is the final part of the Eocene Epoch, a geological period that spanned from 56 to 33.9 million years ago. The Eocene itself is the second of three divisions of the Paleogene Period. The Late Eocene specifically covers the time from 38 to 33.9 million years ago. During this time, global temperatures, which had been warm and humid throughout the Eocene, began a steady decline towards the boundary with the Oligocene Epoch. This cooling trend is evidenced by shifts in vegetation zones towards the Equator and is thought to be influenced by tectonic movements, such as the opening of passages between Tasmania and Antarctica, and later the Drake Passage.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
5 Britannica Sources
  1. Eocene Epoch
  2. Paleocene Epoch
  3. Eocene Series
  4. Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
  5. climate change - Cenozoic climates

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.