Carboniferous
noting or pertaining to a period of the Paleozoic Era, including the Pennsylvanian and Mississippian periods as epochs, occurring from 345 million to 280 million years ago.
(lowercase) producing carbon or coal.
the Carboniferous Period or System.
Origin of Carboniferous
1Other words from Carboniferous
- post-Car·bon·if·er·ous, adjective
- pre-Car·bon·if·er·ous, adjective
Words Nearby Carboniferous
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use Carboniferous in a sentence
Ninety percent of all the fossil fuels—coal, oil, gas—that we burn today were deposited during the Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods.
Why Birds Can Fly Over Mount Everest - Issue 94: Evolving | Walter Murch | December 30, 2020 | NautilusIn New Brunswick the Carboniferous rocks occupy a large area, but the coal seams so far developed are thin and unimportant.
At the close of Carboniferous times a marked change took place in the nature of the earth-movements.
The Principles of Stratigraphical Geology | J. E. MarrPressure seems to have played a considerable part in the formation of Carboniferous strata.
The Underground City | Jules VerneThe volcanic outbursts which followed became feebler in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods and ceased with the Permian.
The city cemetery is artificially made of fine Carboniferous earth, on which vegetation springs up quickly.
British Dictionary definitions for carboniferous (1 of 2)
/ (ˌkɑːbəˈnɪfərəs) /
yielding coal or carbon
British Dictionary definitions for Carboniferous (2 of 2)
/ (ˌkɑːbəˈnɪfərəs) /
of, denoting, or formed in the fifth period of the Palaeozoic era, between the Devonian and Permian periods, lasting for nearly 64 million years during which coal measures were formed
the Carboniferous the Carboniferous period or rock system
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for Carboniferous
[ kär′bə-nĭf′ər-əs ]
The period of geologic time from about 360 to 286 million years ago. The term is used throughout the world, although this period of time has been separated into the Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) and Pennsylvanian (upper Carboniferous) in the United States. During this time, widespread swamps formed in which plant remains accumulated and later hardened into coal. See Chart at geologic time.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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