A division of geologic time next smaller than the eon and larger than a period. Example: The Paleozoic era is in the Phanerozoic eon and includes, among others, the Devonian period
Iowa State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Glossary of Geologic Terms (based on the glossary in Earth: An Introduction to Geologic Change, by S. Judson and S.M. Richardson, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1995), Iowa, USA 2004. http://www.ge-at.iastate.edu/courses/Geol_100/old_ files/glossary.v2.html, (ND/ Geol - Amer) {111}