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30-779: The Santa Margarita Formation is a Neogene Period geologic formation in the San Joaquin Valley of central California . It preserves fossils dating back to the Miocene epoch . This article about a specific stratigraphic formation in California is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Neogene During this period, mammals and birds continued to evolve into modern forms, while other groups of life remained relatively unchanged. The first humans ( Homo habilis ) appeared in Africa near

60-559: A series of continental glaciations in the Quaternary Period that followed. In ICS terminology, from upper (later, more recent) to lower (earlier): The Pliocene Epoch is subdivided into two ages: The Miocene Epoch is subdivided into six ages: In different geophysical regions of the world, other regional names are also used for the same or overlapping ages and other timeline subdivisions. The terms Neogene System (formal) and Upper Tertiary System (informal) describe

90-555: Is 1890 m deep by 160 km wide, is the widest of the exit pathways and averages only 0.02 m/s. From 2004 to 2006, 11 moorings were deployed across the entrance and exit regions of the ITF and were positioned to accurately measure each passage's contribution as part of the International Nusantara Stratification and Transport (INSTANT) program. A study using Princeton Ocean Model has observed that

120-590: Is a highly turbulent and a high heat dissipative in nature. Circulation and transport within the Indonesian Seas vary along with large-scale monsoon flow. During June to August, southeasterlies of the southwest monsoon predominate over Indonesia and drive strong Ekman divergence (southwestward flow in the Southern Hemisphere thus increasing ITF to 15 Sv) whereas from December to February, Northwest Monsoon westerlies serve to directly reduce

150-481: Is due to the comparatively fine divisibility of time units as time approaches the present, and due to geological preservation that causes the youngest sedimentary geological record to be preserved over a much larger area and to reflect many more environments than the older geological record. By dividing the Cenozoic Era into three (arguably two) periods ( Paleogene , Neogene, Quaternary ) instead of seven epochs,

180-505: Is made up of Lombok (2.6 Sv), Ombai (4.9 Sv) and Timor (7.5 Sv) contributions. Heat Transport of the Indonesian Throughflow is 1.087 PW (1 PW=10 Watt). Turbulence Kinetic Energy (TKE) of the ITF is of the order of 10 m s in the upper layer whereas it is 10 m s in the middle layer. Corresponding values of ITF TKE dissipation rate are of the order of 10 m s and 10 m s which indicate that this ITF archipelagoes region

210-653: Is often seen as an analogous climate to the projected climate of the near future as a result of anthropogenic global warming . Towards the end of the Pliocene, decreased heat transport towards the Antarctic resulting from a weakening of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) cooled the Earth, a process that exacerbated itself in a positive feedback as sea levels dropped and the ITF diminished and further limited

240-793: The Paleogene . The Early Miocene was relatively cool; Early Miocene mid-latitude seawater and continental thermal gradients were already very similar to those of the present. During the Middle Miocene , Earth entered a warm phase known as the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO), which was driven by the emplacement of the Columbia River Basalt Group . Around 11 Ma, the Middle Miocene Warm Interval gave way to

270-535: The Gelasian Age, which was formerly considered part of the Neogene Period and Pliocene Epoch. Thus the Neogene Period ends bounding the succeeding Quaternary Period at 2.58 Mya. Indonesian Throughflow The Indonesian Throughflow (ITF; Indonesian : Arus Lintas Indonesia ) is an ocean current with importance for global climate as is the low-latitude movement of warm, relative freshwater from

300-536: The ITF along the west Australia Shelf coast serving to reduce the ITF. Upwelling (i.e. reduced sea level) associated with Rossby waves on the Pacific side reduces the Pacific-to-Indian pressure gradient and reduces the ITF. Interannual variability of Indian Ocean westerlies acts in the same manner as the seasonal equatorial Kelvin waves to reduce the normal westward ITF flow as well. An important feature of

330-713: The ITF has maximum volume transport from the Pacific Ocean to Indian Ocean through Savu strait (~6/5 Sv, 1 Sv = 10 m³/s), followed by Timor passage (~3.5/2 Sv) and Lombok strait (~2/1.75 Sv) thus the gross volume transport of ITF is ~10/9 Sv and also it is observed that the ITF increases the temperature of the Southern Indian Ocean while it has no significant effect on the sea surface salinity of Indian Ocean. Flow in through Makassar (11.6 Sv) and Lifamatola (1.1 Sv) sums to 12.7 Sv. Total outflow transport corresponds to 15.0 Sv (varying from 10.7 to 18.7 Sv) and

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360-596: The ITF. During monsoon transitions, strong westerly winds in the eastern Indian Ocean force equatorial downwelling Kelvin waves (eastward moving, eastward flow) that propagate through the Indonesian passages as coastally trapped Kelvin waves and serve to reduce the ITF flow with a minimum in April of 9 Sv. Another way to think about it is that downwelling on the Indian Ocean side increases sea level and so reduces

390-546: The Indonesian Throughflow is that because the water in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean has a higher temperature and lower salinity than the water in the Indian Ocean, the Throughflow transports large amounts of relatively warm and fresh water to the Indian Ocean. When the Indonesian Throughflow (through Lombok Strait, Ombai and the Timor Passages) enters the Indian Ocean it is advected towards Africa within

420-505: The Miocene-Pliocene boundary. The first hominins , the ancestors of humans, may have appeared in southern Europe and migrated into Africa. The first humans (belonging to the species Homo habilis ) appeared in Africa near the end of the period. About 20 million years ago gymnosperms in the form of some conifer and cycad groups started to diversify and produce more species due to the changing conditions. In response to

450-777: The Neogene and the Pliocene end at 2.58 Ma, that the Gelasian be transferred to the Pleistocene, and the Quaternary be recognized as the third period in the Cenozoic, citing key changes in Earth's climate, oceans, and biota that occurred 2.58 Ma and its correspondence to the Gauss-Matuyama magnetostratigraphic boundary . In 2006 ICS and INQUA reached a compromise that made Quaternary a sub-era, subdividing Cenozoic into

480-562: The Pliocene Warm Interval (PWI), interrupting the longer-term cooling trend. The Pliocene Thermal Maximum (PTM) occurred between 3.3 and 3.0 Ma. During the Pliocene, Green Sahara phases of wet conditions in North Africa were frequent and occurred about every 21 kyr, being especially intense when Earth's orbit's eccentricity was high. The PWI had similar levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide to contemporary times and

510-490: The atmosphere, C 4 plants expanded and reached ecological dominance in grasslands during the last 10 million years. Also Asteraceae (daisies) went through a significant adaptive radiation . Eucalyptus fossil leaves occur in the Miocene of New Zealand, where the genus is not native today, but have been introduced from Australia. The Neogene traditionally ended at the end of the Pliocene Epoch, just before

540-498: The channels that make up the ITF are shown inset. Lombok Strait is 300m deep and roughly 35 km wide and the currents vary between 0.286 m/s (0.6 mi/hr) eastward to 0.67 m/s westward and average 0.25 m/s westward. Currents in Ombai vary between 0.12 m/s eastward to 0.16 m/s westward, averaging 0.11 m/s westward and are funneled within the 1250m deep and 35 km wide passage. Timor passage, which

570-464: The cooler, seasonal climate, tropical plant species gave way to deciduous ones and grasslands replaced many forests. Grasses therefore greatly diversified, and herbivorous mammals evolved alongside it, creating the many grazing animals of today such as horses , antelope , and bison . Ice age mammals like the mammoths and woolly rhinoceros were common in Pliocene . With lower levels of CO 2 in

600-654: The end of the period. Some continental movements took place, the most significant event being the connection of North and South America at the Isthmus of Panama , late in the Pliocene. This cut off the warm ocean currents from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, leaving only the Gulf Stream to transfer heat to the Arctic Ocean . The global climate cooled considerably throughout the Neogene, culminating in

630-467: The heat transported southward by the Leeuwin Current . By the end of the period the first of a series of glaciations of the current Ice Age began. Marine and continental flora and fauna have a modern appearance. The reptile group Choristodera went extinct in the early part of the period, while the amphibians known as Allocaudata disappeared at the end of it. Neogene also marked the end of

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660-578: The in reality combined Java Sea - Banda Sea . About 15% of this then exits directly through the very narrow Lombok Strait . Weaker flows of saltier and denser South Pacific slightly augment the Banda Sea via the Lifamatola Passage, both inflows mixing there due to its bounds and tides, Ekman pumping , and heat and freshwater flux . From this sea 85% of the ITF uses the broad Timor and narrow Ombai passage. The location and topography of

690-486: The much cooler Late Miocene. The ice caps on both poles began to grow and thicken, a process enhanced by positive feedbacks from increased formation of sea ice. Between 7 and 5.3 Ma, a decrease in global temperatures termed the Late Miocene Cooling (LMC) ensued, driven by decreases in carbon dioxide concentrations. During the Pliocene, from about 5.3 to 2.7 Ma, another warm interval occurred, being known as

720-448: The normal Pacific-to-Indian pressure head reducing the flow. Global-scale, ocean waves such as equatorial/coastal Kelvin and Rossby waves drive interannual variation of the ITF with an amplitude of roughly +/-3 Sv. Western-central Pacific westerly winds from El Nino force westward moving-equatorial Rossby waves and eastward currents that hit eastern New Guinea and propagate around the west coast as coastal Kelvin waves and down through

750-403: The north Pacific to the Indian Ocean . It thus serves as a main upper branch of the global heat/salt conveyor belt . The ocean surface of this part of the far western Pacific is on average each day higher than that in the adjacent part of the Indian Ocean. The difference drives upper thermocline water "downhill" through the deep, straight, westerly, north–south Makassar Strait then to meet

780-611: The old classical Tertiary and Quaternary, a compromise that was rejected by International Union of Geological Sciences because it split both Neogene and Pliocene in two. Following formal discussions at the 2008 International Geological Congress in Oslo, Norway, the ICS decided in May 2009 to make the Quaternary the youngest period of the Cenozoic Era with its base at 2.58 Mya and including

810-503: The older definition of the beginning of the Quaternary Period; many time scales show this division. However, there was a movement amongst geologists (particularly marine geologists ) to also include ongoing geological time (Quaternary) in the Neogene, while others (particularly terrestrial geologists) insist the Quaternary to be a separate period of distinctly different record. The somewhat confusing terminology and disagreement amongst geologists on where to draw what hierarchical boundaries

840-628: The periods are more closely comparable to the duration of periods in the Mesozoic and Paleozoic Eras. The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) once proposed that the Quaternary be considered a sub-era (sub-erathem) of the Neogene, with a beginning date of 2.58 Ma, namely the start of the Gelasian Stage . In the 2004 proposal of the ICS, the Neogene would have consisted of the Miocene and Pliocene Epochs. The International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) counterproposed that

870-501: The reptilian genera Langstonia and Barinasuchus , terrestrial predators that were the last surviving members of Sebecosuchia , a group related to crocodiles. The oceans were dominated by large carnivores like megalodons and livyatans , and 19 million years ago about 70% of all pelagic shark species disappeared. Mammals and birds continued to be the dominant terrestrial vertebrates, and took many forms as they adapted to various habitats. An explosive radiation of ursids took place at

900-622: The rocks deposited during the Neogene Period . The continents in the Neogene were very close to their current positions. The Isthmus of Panama formed, connecting North and South America . The Indian subcontinent continued to collide with Asia , forming the Himalayas . Sea levels fell, creating land bridges between Africa and Eurasia and between Eurasia and North America. The global climate became more seasonal and continued an overall drying and cooling trend which began during

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