Relative ages represent the chronological order of younger and older strata relative to each other. For example, the relative age of a stratigraphic unit can be identified as Ordovician according to its fossils, and it can then be determined to be younger than rocks of the Cambrian Period and older than rocks of the Silurian Period. However, these ages are relative. The chronostratigraphic units eonothem, erathem, system, series and stage are relative or chronological ages, and they can then be translated into numerical ages to form the geologic time scale.
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(2020). Relative Age. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_2044
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