The Permian is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period 298.9 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleozoic Era; the following Triassic Period belongs to the Mesozoic Era. The concept of the Permian was introduced in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, who named it after the region of Perm in Russia.
Selwyn Rock, South Australia, an exhumed glacial pavement of Permian age
Hercosestria cribrosa, a reef-forming productid brachiopod (Middle Permian, Glass Mountains, Texas)
Fossil and life restoration of Permocupes sojanensis, a permocupedid beetle from the Middle Permian of Russia
Edaphosaurus pogonias and Platyhystrix – Early Permian, North America and Europe
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period 358.9 Ma to the beginning of the Permian Period, 298.9 Ma. In North America, the Carboniferous is often treated as two separate geological periods, the earlier Mississippian and the later Pennsylvanian.
Cliff section through the Serpukhovian Red Wharf Limestone Formation, Wales. A marine limestone at the base of the cliff is overlain by an orange-coloured fluvial sandstone. Subaerial exposure of the limestone during a period of falling sea level resulted in the formation of a karstic surface, which has then been infilled by the river sands. A thin, estuarine silty mudstone overlays the sandstone, which in turn is overlain by a second marine limestone.
Hyden Formation over Pikeville Formation in the Pennsylvanian of Kentucky, US. The exposure has Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic sedimentary rocks of the Breathitt Group. The upper part of the roadcut is Hyden Formation, consisting of mixed siliciclastics and coal. The lower part is Pikeville Formation, also having mixed siliciclastics and coal.
A reconstruction of life on a forest floor during the Pennsylvanian Period. The reptile is Edaphosaurus, a pelycosaur. Plants are the seed ferns Neuropteris and Pectopteris, the club mosses Lepidodendron and Sigillaria, other plants include Cordaites, Calamites, climbing ferns, pond algae, and Sphenophyllum.
Etching depicting some of the most significant plants of the Carboniferous
