New Zealand geologic time scale

New Zealand uses its own way of dividing long ago times, called the New Zealand geologic time scale, along with the world's common system. This special system helps scientists in New Zealand study old rocks and fossils. It uses local place names, many from Māori culture, going back to a time called the Permian.

Before the Permian, New Zealand mostly uses the same names as Australia, but these are not split into smaller parts very often. Most rocks in New Zealand are from more recent times. Even with its own names, New Zealand still follows the same big time periods as the rest of the world. Only the smaller parts of these periods get new names.

This system was first suggested in 1995 by a scientist named J. S. Crampton and was last updated in 2015. Right now, from New Zealand's view, we are living in a time called the Haweran stage, part of the Wanganui epoch. This Haweran time began about 340,000 years ago and is named after a town called Hāwera on the North Island. These New Zealand times do not exactly match the world's common times, making studying Earth's history in New Zealand very interesting for scientists.

List of New Zealand geologic time epochs and stages

Times given show when each stage and epoch began. Many of these stages are split into upper and lower parts, but this is only noted when they have special names. Like the international geologic scale, these epochs and stages are mostly named after places where rocks from these times can be found, with stage names often coming from spots close to their main location.

Mesozoic Era

Cretaceous Period

Jurassic Period

Triassic Period

Palaeozoic Era

Permian Period

Carboniferous Period

Devonian Period

Stages before the Carboniferous Period use either international (Devonian/Silurian) or Australian (Ordovician/Cambrian) geologic stage names because very little New Zealand rock is known from these times.

Silurian Period

Ordovician Period

Cambrian Period

Proterozoic, Archaean and Hadaean Aeons