Geologic Timetable

 Periods

 Epochs
Years Ago

 Estimated Length in Years

 Type of Rock in Kansas

from

to
C
E
N
O
Z
O
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C

Quaternary
Holocene 10,000 Current 10,000 Glacial drift, alluvial deposits, loess, dune sand, volcanic ash
Pleistocene 1,600,000 10,000 1,590,000
Tertiary Pliocene 5,300,000 1,600,000 3,700,000 Alluvial deposits, limestone, volcanic ash, bentonite, diatomaceous marl, opaline sandstone.
Miocene 23,700,000 5,300,000 18,400,000
Oligocene 36,600,000 23,700,000 12,900,000
Eocene 57,800,000 36,600,000 21,200,000
Paleocene 66,400,000 57,800,000 8,600,000
M
E
S
O
Z
O
I
C
Cretaceous 144,000,000 66,400,000 77,600,000 Limestone, chalk, shale, clay, sandstone, conglomerate, outcropping igneous rock
Jurassic 208,000,000 144,000,000 64,000,000 Sandstone, shale (mostly subsurface). Siltstone, chert and gypsum
Triassic 245,000,000 208,000,000 37,000,000
P
A
L
E
O
Z
O
I
C
Permian 286,000,000 245,000,000 41,000,000 Limestone, shale, evaporites, sandstone, chert, siltstone, dolomite, red beds
Pennsylvanian 320,000,000 286,000,000 34,000,000 Shale, limestone, sandstone, coal, chert and conglomerate
Mississippian 360,000,000 320,000,000 40,000,000 Limestone, shale, dolomite, chert, oolites, sandstone, siltstone
Devonian 408,000,000 360,000,000 48,000,000 Subsurface only. Limestone, shale, sandstone
Silurian 438,000,000 408,000,000 30,000,000 Subsurface only. Limestone
Ordovician 505,000,000 438,000,000 67,000,000 Subsurface only. Dolomite, sandstone
Cambrian 570,000,000 505,000,000 65,000,000 Subsurface only. Dolomite, sandstone, limestone, shale
PreCambrian 4,500,000,000 570,000,000 3,930,000,000 Subsurface only, Igneous and metamorphic rocks