Devonian

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • n Devonian from 405 million to 345 million years ago; preponderance of fishes and appearance of amphibians and ammonites
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • a Devonian (Geol) Of or pertaining to Devon or Devonshire in England; as, the Devonian rocks, period, or system.
    • n Devonian The Devonian age or formation.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • Devonian Of or pertaining to Devonshire in England.
    • Devonian The term was applied specifically, in geology, by Murchison to a great part of the Paleozoic strata of North and South Devon, and used by him as synonymous with Old Red Sandstone, for which term he substituted it, “because the strata of that age in Devonshire—lithologically very unlike the old red sandstone of Scotland, Hereford, and the South Welsh counties—contain a much more copious and rich fossil fauna, and were shown to occupy the same intermediate position between the Silurian and Carboniferous rocks.” Later geologists, however, do not use the terms as identical, the conditions under which the strata were deposited being very different.
    • Devonian This term was first applied in geology by Sedgwick and Murchison to a series of rocks in North and South Devon and Cornwall in which fossils had been found which were recognized by Lonsdale as intermediate in character between Silurian and Carboniferous. The lower and upper limits of the formation were not defined in Britain, but were more precisely determined by the same geologists in the Rhineland. So uncertain, however, were the bounds assigned to the base of the formation that more recent study in various countries has added to the lower part of this system considerable beds that had before been assigned to the Silurian system. Strictly applied, the term Devonian implies the rocks bearing the marine faunas of that time and is contrasted with the Old Red Sandstone, which is a formation sometimes different lithologically and which represents the lake, lagoon, or delta deposits of the same age.
    • n Devonian A native or inhabitant of Devonshire.
    • n Devonian In geology, the Devonian series.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • adj Devonian de-vō′ni-an belonging to Devonshire: belonging to a system of geological strata which abound in Devonshire, closely corresponding to Old Red Sandstone.
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Usage

In literature:

The trachyte of the Drachenfels was probably the neck of a volcano which burst through the fundamental schists of the Devonian period.
"Volcanoes: Past and Present" by Edward Hull
Not one solitary species of fish now in existence is to be found in the Devonian or Silurian formations.
"The Voice of Science in Nineteenth-Century Literature" by Various
It was not until Devonian and Carboniferous times that the plants became very abundant, as far as the geological records go.
"The Christian View of the Old Testament" by Frederick Carl Eiselen
Tottenham Court Road ,, 1,064 ,, ,, Devonian.
"Island Life" by Alfred Russel Wallace
Devonian rocks in Ohio have yielded fine fossils of gigantic fishes and sharks.
"Earth and Sky Every Child Should Know" by Julia Ellen Rogers
Impressions of rain-marks have been found in the shales of the coal measures and Devonian system.
"The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science" by John William Dawson
The whole region is underlain by nearly horizontal and undisturbed rocks of the Palaeozoic from the Devonian downward.
"Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2" by Various
Devonian strata formed in deep seas, 117.
"Principles of Geology" by Charles Lyell
They appear to indicate a Devonian age.
"Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5" by Various
Occur exclusively in Palaeozoic strata from Devonian upwards.
"Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6" by Various
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In poetry:

"Eo--Mio--Plio--whatsoe'er the 'cene' was
That those vacant sockets filled with awe and wonder,--
Whether shores Devonian or Silurian beaches,--
Tell us thy strange story!
"To The Pliocene Skull" by Francis Bret Harte

In news:

Reported light oil on drillstem tests in two formations of Devonian age at its Tar Point exploratory well on Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula.
ogj.com
Shakespeare Oil redefined the structural interpretation of the Devonian Geneva dolomite reservoir in Tonti field, Marion County, Ill.
worldoil.com
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In science:

Thus, the “Big Five” extinctions occurred at the ends of the Ordivician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous epochs, and it is estimated that each of them killed at least 70% of all existing species [184].
Biological Evolution and Statistical Physics
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