epoch

epoch, unit of geologic time that is a subdivision of a period. The Pleistocene and Holocene epochs, for example, are divisions of the Quaternary period. Epoch is also used to describe a short length of geologic time during a special occurrence, such as the glacial epoch. See geology; Geologic Timescale (table).

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epoch

Unit of geologic time during which a rock series is deposited. It is a subdivision of a geologic period. Additional distinctions can be made by adding relative time terms, such as early, middle, and late. The use of the term is usually restricted to divisions of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods.

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epoch

The starting date from which time is measured as a number of days or minutes or seconds, etc. In computer applications, epochs are used to maintain a time reference as a single number for ease of computation. Otherwise, depending on the granularity of time desired, every point in time would have to be stored with some of or all of the components of the time hierarchy, including year, month, day, hour, minute, second, millisecond, microsecond and nanosecond. Following are the various epochs in use. See also EPOC.

  System          Epoch            Measured in

  Unix            Jan. 1, 1970     Seconds
  Java            Jan. 1, 1970     Milliseconds

  Windows files   Jan. 1, 1601     Ticks (100 ns)
  Windows dates   Jan. 1, 0001     Ticks (100 ns)

  Mac             Jan. 1, 2001     Seconds
  Earlier Mac     Jan. 1, 1904     Seconds

  Excel           Dec. 31, 1899    Days
  DB2             Dec. 31, 1899    Days

  Unununium       Jan. 1, 2000     Microseconds

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epoch

1. Astronomy a precise date to which information, such as coordinates, relating to a celestial body is referred

2. Geology a unit of geological time within a period during which a series of rocks is formed

3. Physics the displacement of an oscillating or vibrating body at zero time

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epoch [′ep·ək]

(astronomy)

A particular instant for which certain data are valid; for example, star positions in an astronomical catalog, epoch 1950.0.

(geology)

A major subdivision of a period of geologic time.

(physics)

time

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1.	(operating system)	epoch - (Probably from astronomical timekeeping) A term used originally in Unix documentation for the time and date corresponding to zero in an operating system's clock and timestamp values. Under most Unix versions the epoch is 1970-01-01 00:00:00 GMT; under VMS, it's 1858-11-17 00:00:00 (the base date of the US Naval Observatory's ephemerides); on a Macintosh, it's 1904-01-01 00:00:00. System time is measured in seconds or ticks past the epoch. Weird problems may ensue when the clock wraps around (see wrap around), which is not necessarily a rare event; on systems counting 10 ticks per second, a signed 32-bit count of ticks is good only for 0.1 * 2**31-1 seconds, or 6.8 years. The one-tick-per-second clock of Unix is good only until 2038-01-18, assuming at least some software continues to consider it signed and that word lengths don't increase by then. See also wall time.
2.	(editor)	epoch - (Epoch) A version of GNU Emacs for the X Window System from NCSA.