Mesoproterozoic

Mesoproterozoic
1600 – 1000 Ma Pha. Proterozoic Archean Had.
Banded fine-grained pyrite found in the Urquhart Shale, Australia
Chronology
−1600 — – −1550 — – −1500 — – −1450 — – −1400 — – −1350 — – −1300 — – −1250 — – −1200 — – −1150 — – −1100 — – −1050 — – −1000 — – P r o t e r o z o i c Paleoproterozoic M e s o p r o t e r o z o i c Neoproterozoic Calymmian Ectasian Stenian   An approximate timescale of key Mesoproterozoic events. Axis scale: millions of years ago.
Proposed redefinition(s)	1780–850 Ma Gradstein et al., 2012
Proposed subdivisions	Rodinian Period, 1780–850 Ma Gradstein et al., 2012
Etymology
Name formality	Formal
Usage information
Celestial body	Earth
Regional usage	Global (ICS)
Time scale(s) used	ICS Time Scale
Definition
Chronological unit	Era
Stratigraphic unit	Erathem
Time span formality	Formal
Lower boundary definition	Defined Chronometrically
Lower GSSA ratified	1991[1]
Upper boundary definition	Defined Chronometrically
Upper GSSA ratified	1991[1]

The Mesoproterozoic Era^[4] is a geologic era that occurred from 1,600 to 1,000 million years ago. The Mesoproterozoic was the first era of Earth's history for which a fairly definitive geological record survives. Continents existed during the preceding era (the Paleoproterozoic), but little is known about them. The continental masses of the Mesoproterozoic were more or less the same ones that exist today, although their arrangement on the Earth's surface was different.