359 – 299 MA

Period · Paleozoic

Carboniferous

359–299 Ma

The Carboniferous is a period within the Paleozoic, spanning roughly 359 to 299 million years ago. Coal-swamp floras (Mazon Creek, St. Clair) and crinoid gardens; split in North America into Mississippian and Pennsylvanian.

Rankperiod· Paleobiology Database
Base359 Ma· Paleobiology Database
Top299 Ma· Paleobiology Database
Duration60 Myr· Paleobiology Database
ChartICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart v2023/09 (ages from Macrostrat/PBDB interval tables)

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Carboniferous" (Time interval). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/time/carboniferous. Accessed 2026-09-20.

@misc{stratum-carboniferous,
  title        = {Carboniferous},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/time/carboniferous}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Time interval article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.

Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial);Paleobiology Database (CC-BY-4.0). As of 2026-09-19; Study pack 2026.09. Data reproduced under the licences shown; text in Stratum's own words unless a section names its source.

Found an error? Write to drew@tyr.ac with the article id interval:carboniferous.