subrecentadj.
/ˈsʌbˌriːsnt/, U.S. /ˈsəbˌris(ə)nt/ Chiefly Geology.
Somewhat earlier or older than recent. Cf. recent adj. 5b.
ΚΠ
1865 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 155 403 The commonest shell in the clay of our Eastern Counties fen-district, excepting at the margin of that sub-recent deposit.
1919 Geogr. Rev. 7 176 The mountainous border of the Gulf of Tonkin has for the most part an embayed shore line of subrecent or recent submergence.
1962 Ecology 43 299/2 The vegetational development beginning probably shortly after the deglaciation of the area..and ending in recent or subrecent time.
2000 J. Rullkötter in H. D. Schulz & M. Zabel Marine Geochem. iv. 144/1 Amino acids occur in rapidly decreasing concentrations in recent and subrecent sediments.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1865