Earth Geology Geologic Time Scale Silurian Period

Silurian Period

The Silurian time period lasted from 440 to 410 million years ago, a time span of 30 million years. The term Silurian was first used in the 1830s to describe a sequence of rocks in south Wales. The name Silurian was derived from the name of an ancient British tribe known as the Silures. These Silurian rocks were defined based on a particular type of fossil assemblage contained within them. They are located above the rocks of the Ordovician System and below the rocks of the Devonian System.