English translation: Ma (Mega annum, million of years)
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Spanish to English translations [PRO] Tech/Engineering - Geology / Flood Risk Assessment
Spanish term or phrase:ma
SPAIN: This is an abbreviation (mil años). In an earlier document I simply wrote the number out longhand but am wondering if there is a specific abbreviation used in the field (Geology).
"Hace entre 300-250 ma, al terminar el Ciclo Hercínico tuvo lugar un episodio distensivo a nivel continental-peninsular... "
Explanation: En inglés también se utiliza "Ma"; la a es del latín "annum".
Y cuidado, la "m" corresponde a millones, no a milenios; el tiempo geológico es habitualmente mucho más largo.
Puedes ver una discusión del tema aquí: http://www.geosociety.org/TimeUnits/viewComments.asp
Geological Society of America
Discussion of GSA Time Unit Conventions
(...)
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Mega-annum
Mega-annum, usually abbreviated as Ma, is a unit of time equal to one million years. It commonly used in geology and paleontology to signify time in the past. For example, 65 Ma indicates 65 million years ago.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 37 mins (2010-12-17 11:09:24 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Una referencia en tu contexto para que compruebes que se trata de millones de años y no de milenios. http://bioloweb.comli.com/apuntes_txt/biog/01-Biogeografia.p...
(...)
4.3.- El Ciclo Hercínico:
Orogenias originadas por el choque de las placas de Laurasia y Godwana durante la formación de PG2, hace unos 350 millones de años.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 42 mins (2010-12-17 11:14:09 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
PDF]
Evoluzione Geologica_eng_OK.cdr
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Formato de archivo: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Vista rápida
Strictly speaking, Hercynian history begins approximately 400 millions of years ago (from the Devonian period of the Palaeozoic era) through ... www.assocave.it/eng/public/Geological evolution.pdf
http://bulletin.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/112...
(...)
The Hercynian cycle began in the early Paleozoic with episodes of continental rifting. Orogenic events occurred in the 390–300 Ma interval and affected both the Cadomian basement, which was heterogeneously reworked and overprinted, and the Paleozoic cover.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 58 mins (2010-12-17 11:30:37 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
El ciclo geológico Hercínico empieza en Sobrarbe con el mar ocupando este territorio. Predomina la sedimentación de carbonatos (Devónico) y lutitas (Silúrico), con niveles de sedimentos detríticos que aumentaron durante el Carbonífero hace unos 300 millones de años, a causa de la orogenia Hercínica, hasta el final de la Era. La formación de la Pangea propició la colisión de placas tectónicas, formándose extensas cordilleras más altas que nuestros Pirineos, que fueros prácticamente arrasadas al final del Paleozoico.
Durante la etapa de sedimentación del Ciclo Hercínico, se acumularon grandes cantidades de sedimentos en el fondo del mar o cerca de él. Al cabo de millones de años quedaron enterrados profundamente en el subsuelo y se transformaron en rocas sedimentarias.
Andrés has got this one and the rest of us have egg on our faces. Just one tiny (but relevant) point that is easy to miss: in agreeing with Andrés, I said you could put "Ma ago" or "mya". First, I think "Ma" does indeed seem to be the more standard abbreviation in geology, but second, I'm wrong about Ma ago; it would be logical, and that's why some geologists are arguing for "mya", since Ma is literally not a duration, but in practice, rightly or wrongly, geologists seem to use "Ma" alone for millions of years ago, so to conform to custom I think you should put "300-250 Ma", without "ago".
Oh, and by the way, "Hace entre 300-250" is a very common usage but I think it's horrible; it's a bugbear of mine. It should be "Hace 300-250" or "Hace entre 300 y 250", but nobody seems to want to listen to me on this.
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Answers
12 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): -1
millennnia
Explanation: I think the term millennia can be used rather than writing out the whole number, although I do not know of any abbreviation for it. In the web reference I attached they use Ma for a million years in English.
Patrick Jones United Kingdom Local time: 03:25 Native speaker of: English
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks also, although it's maybe a bit long, as it occurs several time throughout. I think I might go with "kyr ago" although I dont like it myself.
Asker: Thanks anyway. The department secretary told me it meant "mil años" so it turns out we were all barking up the wrong tree!
Explanation: You do sometimes find "XX tya" for "XX thousand years ago", but it's nothing like as well established as the standard "mya" for "million years ago". It would be more normal to render this as "300,000-250,000 ya", in my opinion. Obviously "ya" subsumes "hace".
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 mins (2010-12-17 10:43:30 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Sometimes with points (y.a.) but more often not.
See eg. Estimated Age of Fossil: 50,000 ya * determined by Stratigraphic, faunal & archaeological data (1, 4). Species Name: Homo neanderthalensis http://www.mos.org/evolution/fossils/fossilview.php?fid=52
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 13 mins (2010-12-17 10:45:33 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 24 mins (2010-12-17 10:56:50 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Well actually, yes, kyr does seem to be used too (sorry, I didn't know; I'm not a geologist either, though I read a lot about palaeoanthropology). Maybe geologists actually prefer it; they certainly seem to use it, about as often, from my searches (comparing "300 kya" with "300000 ya").
It makes perfect sense: k for 1000 (like people who tell you they earn 100 k a year. So it looks as though either will do you. The minimum change to your text would be with kya.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 26 mins (2010-12-17 10:58:35 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Neil: just seen your response to Patrick. Don't use "kya ago", just "kya"; "ago" is redundant, since the "a" stands for it.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 30 mins (2010-12-17 11:02:23 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
You don't like "kya"? Nothing wrong with it that I can see. The great Luigi Cavalli-Sforza uses it (with points: k.y.a.) in his The History and Geography of Human Genes (available in Google Books).
Charles Davis Local time: 04:25 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Cheers Charles. My problem is that in some sources they suggest "kyr" which looks a bit odd to me, but then I'm not a geologist :)
Asker: Turns out it was million, not thousand. At least it wasn't pesetas... Thank all the same for helping out :)
Explanation: En inglés también se utiliza "Ma"; la a es del latín "annum".
Y cuidado, la "m" corresponde a millones, no a milenios; el tiempo geológico es habitualmente mucho más largo.
Puedes ver una discusión del tema aquí: http://www.geosociety.org/TimeUnits/viewComments.asp
Geological Society of America
Discussion of GSA Time Unit Conventions
(...)
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Mega-annum
Mega-annum, usually abbreviated as Ma, is a unit of time equal to one million years. It commonly used in geology and paleontology to signify time in the past. For example, 65 Ma indicates 65 million years ago.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 37 mins (2010-12-17 11:09:24 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Una referencia en tu contexto para que compruebes que se trata de millones de años y no de milenios. http://bioloweb.comli.com/apuntes_txt/biog/01-Biogeografia.p...
(...)
4.3.- El Ciclo Hercínico:
Orogenias originadas por el choque de las placas de Laurasia y Godwana durante la formación de PG2, hace unos 350 millones de años.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 42 mins (2010-12-17 11:14:09 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
PDF]
Evoluzione Geologica_eng_OK.cdr
- [ Traducir esta página ]
Formato de archivo: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Vista rápida
Strictly speaking, Hercynian history begins approximately 400 millions of years ago (from the Devonian period of the Palaeozoic era) through ... www.assocave.it/eng/public/Geological evolution.pdf
http://bulletin.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/112...
(...)
The Hercynian cycle began in the early Paleozoic with episodes of continental rifting. Orogenic events occurred in the 390–300 Ma interval and affected both the Cadomian basement, which was heterogeneously reworked and overprinted, and the Paleozoic cover.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 58 mins (2010-12-17 11:30:37 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
El ciclo geológico Hercínico empieza en Sobrarbe con el mar ocupando este territorio. Predomina la sedimentación de carbonatos (Devónico) y lutitas (Silúrico), con niveles de sedimentos detríticos que aumentaron durante el Carbonífero hace unos 300 millones de años, a causa de la orogenia Hercínica, hasta el final de la Era. La formación de la Pangea propició la colisión de placas tectónicas, formándose extensas cordilleras más altas que nuestros Pirineos, que fueros prácticamente arrasadas al final del Paleozoico.
Durante la etapa de sedimentación del Ciclo Hercínico, se acumularon grandes cantidades de sedimentos en el fondo del mar o cerca de él. Al cabo de millones de años quedaron enterrados profundamente en el subsuelo y se transformaron en rocas sedimentarias.
Andrés Martínez Spain Local time: 04:25 Works in field Native speaker of: Spanish PRO pts in category: 68
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