In terms of geological time scale, the quaternary period consists of two epochs. They are :
- (a)Pleistocene and Pliocene
- (b)Holocene and Pleistocene
- (c)Pleistocene and Miocene
- (d)Holocene and Eocene
Correct — B, Holocene and Pleistocene. On the geological time scale the Cenozoic Era's most recent period is the Quaternary, which is divided into just two epochs: the older Pleistocene (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago, the great Ice Age) and the younger Holocene (11,700 years ago to the present, the current warm interglacial in which human civilisation developed). Pliocene, Miocene and Eocene belong to the earlier periods (Neogene and Palaeogene), not the Quaternary.
- (a)Pleistocene and Pliocene — The Pleistocene is correct, but the Pliocene is the last epoch of the preceding Neogene period, not part of the Quaternary. The Quaternary's second epoch is the Holocene.
- (c)Pleistocene and Miocene — The Miocene is an older Neogene epoch, well before the Quaternary. The two Quaternary epochs are the Pleistocene and the Holocene.
- (d)Holocene and Eocene — The Holocene is right, but the Eocene is a much older Palaeogene epoch. The Quaternary pairs the Holocene with the Pleistocene.
Geological time is divided into eras, periods and epochs. The Cenozoic Era runs Palaeogene → Neogene → Quaternary. The Quaternary Period — the age of ice ages and of humans — has two epochs: the Pleistocene (the Ice Age) and the Holocene (the present interglacial).
List the recent epochs in order — Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene (all pre-Quaternary), then Pleistocene and Holocene. Only the last two lie in the Quaternary. The distractors each pair one correct Quaternary epoch with an older one to test whether you know where the boundary falls.
- The Quaternary is the youngest period of the Cenozoic Era.
- Its two epochs are the Pleistocene (≈2.6 million–11,700 years ago) and the Holocene (11,700 years ago–present).
- The Pleistocene is the great Ice Age; the Holocene is the current warm interglacial.
- Pliocene, Miocene and Eocene are older epochs of the Neogene and Palaeogene, not the Quaternary.
- Placing the Pliocene or Miocene inside the Quaternary — they belong to the Neogene.
- Forgetting that the Holocene, our present epoch, is part of the Quaternary.
A geological-time question asks for the epochs, periods or eras that make up a named division — memorise the recent sequence and the Quaternary's two epochs.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The current epoch of the geological time scale, covering roughly the last 11,700 years, is the:
- (a)Pleistocene
- (b)Holocene
- (c)Pliocene
- (d)Miocene
Answer(b) Holocene — the present interglacial epoch, the younger of the two Quaternary epochs.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The 'Great Ice Age', marked by repeated glaciations, corresponds to which epoch?
- (a)Holocene
- (b)Eocene
- (c)Pleistocene
- (d)Oligocene
Answer(c) Pleistocene — the Ice Age epoch of the Quaternary Period.