earth science

Mississippian (geology)

Mississippian (geology) is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mississippian (geology) rather than just read about it. In short: The Mississippian ( MISS-iss-IP-ee-ən), also known as Lower Carboniferous or Early Carboniferous, is a subperiod in the geologic timescale or a subsystem of the geologic record. It is the earlier of two subperiods of the Carboniferous period lasting from roughly 358.86 to 323.4 million years ago.

Key takeaways

Mississippian (geology) belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mississippian (geology) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mississippian (geology) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Mississippian ( MISS-iss-IP-ee-ən), also known as Lower Carboniferous or Early Carboniferous, is a subperiod in the geologic timescale or a subsystem of the geologic record. It is the earlier of two subperiods of the Carboniferous period lasting from roughly 358.86 to 323.4 million years ago. As with most other geochronologic units, the rock beds that define the Mississippian are well identified, but the exact start and end dates are uncertain by a few million years. The Mississippian is so named because rocks with this age are exposed in the Mississippi Valley. The Mississippian was a period of marine transgression in the Northern Hemisphere: the sea level was so high that only the Fennoscandian Shield and the Laurentian Shield were dry land. The cratons were surrounded by extensive delta systems and lagoons, and carbonate sedimentation on the surrounding continental platforms, covered by shallow seas. In North America, where the interval consists primarily of marine limestones, it is treated as a geologic period between the Devonian and the Pennsylvanian. During the Mississippian an important phase of orogeny occurred in the Appalachian Mountains. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) geologic time scale shows its relation to other periods. In Europe, the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian are grouped together as the Carboniferous system, and traditionally referred to as the Upper Carboniferous and Lower Carboniferous instead.

Subdivisions In the international geologic timescale, the Mississippian is subdivided into three stages:

Serpukhovian (330.3 to 323.4 mya) Visean (346.7 to 330.3 mya) Tournaisian (358.86 to 346.7 mya) The lower two come from European stratigraphy, the top from Russian stratigraphy. Besides Europe and Russia, there are many local subdivisions that are used as alternatives for the international timescale. In the North American system, the Mississippian is subdivided into four stages:

Chesterian (top of the Visean plus the Serpukhovian) Meramecian (middle Visean) Osagean or Osagian (top of the Tournaisian and bottom of the Visean) Kinderhookian (the lower two-thirds of the Tournaisian)

References

External links

"The Carboniferous Period". University of California. Archived from the original on 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2019-03-15. "Foraminifera Gallery Database search for Mississippian Foraminifera". Foraminifera.eu. Archived from the original on 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2019-03-15.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mississippian (geology)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mississippian (geology) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mississippian (geology) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mississippian (geology) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mississippian (geology)

In research: Mississippian (geology) appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mississippian (geology) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mississippian (geology) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Carboniferous United States, Carboniferous geochronology, Geological epochs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mississippian (geology) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mississippian (geology) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mississippian (geology) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mississippian (geology) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mississippian (geology) in simple terms?

Why does Mississippian (geology) matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mississippian (geology)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mississippian (geology).