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<onlyinclude>The '''Meghalayan''' is the current [[geologic age|geological age]] that the [[Earth]] is in. It began approximately 4200 years ago (c.2250 BCE) with a major, global [[drought]] that affected many ancient civilizations (Figure 1).</onlyinclude><ref name=ICS>International Commission on Stratigraphy."International Chronostratigraphic Chart v2018" Accessed Nov.8, 2018 [Online]. Available: http://www.stratigraphy.org/index.php/ics-chart-timescale</ref> The drought caused major cultural shifts in many of the ancients civilizations, including civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus River valley, and the Yangtze River valley. It was officially ratified as an age by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in June of 2018. The Meghalayan is considered unique because it is the first unit of [[geologic time scale|geologic time]] that begins with coinciding natural and cultural events. All previous units of geologic time were defined based solely on natural events.<ref name=esky>Deanna Conners. Sept 2018."Welcome to the Meghalayan age" Accessed Dec.8, 2018 [Online]. Available: https://earthsky.org/earth/new-name-present-times-era-meghalayan</ref>

<gallery mode=packed widths="600px" heights="400px">
File:Chronostratchart1.jpg|thumb|Figure 1. Quaternary period time scale. Note the Meghalayan, at the top right.<ref name=ICS>International Commission on Stratigraphy."International Chronostratigraphic Chart v2018" Accessed Nov.8, 2018 [Online]. Available: http://www.stratigraphy.org/index.php/ics-chart-timescale</ref>
File:Meghalayan-stalagmite 530.jpg|thumb|right|Figure 2. Cross-section of the stalagmite from Meghalaya, India that was used to define the timeframe of the Meghalayan.<ref name= ICSF> International Commission on Stratigraphy."Formal subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch" Accessed Dec.8, 2018 [Online]. Available:http://www.stratigraphy.org/index.php/ics-news-and-meetings/125-formal-subdivision-of-the-holocene-series-epoch</ref>
</gallery>

Evidence of the drought (sometimes dubbed a "megadrought") can be found on all the continents. The Meghalayan is named after Meghalaya, India, where the stalagmite that has been used as the definitive marker to define the Meghalayan was discovered (Figure 2).<ref name= ICSF/> The Meghalayan age is a unit within the [[Holocene]] [[Geologic epoch|epoch]]. There is some debate as to whether the Holocene should be called the [[Anthropocene]] ("anthro" refers to humans and human influences), due to the major changes that people have caused to the Earth and its [[ecosystem]]s. Typically only natural events are used to mark the beginning and end of geologic timescale units. Some people believe that humans now have a great enough influence on Earth's systems that that human-caused, or anthropogenic, events should be used as time scale markers as well.<ref name=Valenti>Rull, Valentí. "The “Anthropocene”: neglects, misconceptions, and possible futures: The term “Anthropocene” is often erroneously used, as it is not formally defined yet." EMBO reports (2017): e201744231. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.15252/embr.201744231 </ref>

[[File:ChronostratChart2018-08.jpg|700px|thumb|center|Figure 3. The ICS Chronostratigraphic Chart<ref name=ICS/>]]

==For Further Reading==
*[[Geologic time scale]]
*[[Geologic age]]
*[[Anthropocene]]
*[[Drought]]
*[[Stratigraphy]]
*Or explore a [[Special:Random|random page]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

Meghalayan - Revision history

Jmdonev: 1 revision imported

2dev>Jmdonev at 17:20, 17 December 2018