Multiple choice

Tertiary period had five epochs. Select the correct order in which these epochs appeared in the geological time scale from ancient to recent times:

  1. Palaeocene-Oligocene-Miocene-Eocene-Pliocene

  2. Palaeocene-Pliocene-Oligocene-Miocene-Eocene

  3. Oligocene-Palaeocene-Miocene-Eocene-Pliocene

  4. Palaeocene-Eocene-Oligocene-Miocene-Pliocene
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D Correct answer
Explanation

The correct answer is the Palaeocene-Eocene-Oligocene-Miocene-Pliocene sequence. This is the correct chronological order of the Tertiary period epochs from oldest to youngest. The Tertiary began with the Palaeocene (~66 million years ago), followed by Eocene, then Oligocene, then Miocene, and finally Pliocene (~2.6 million years ago). The other options scramble this order.

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