Albian
| Albian | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chronology | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Etymology | |||||||||
| Name formality | Formal | ||||||||
| Usage information | |||||||||
| Celestial body | Earth | ||||||||
| Regional usage | Global (ICS) | ||||||||
| Time scale(s) used | ICS Time Scale | ||||||||
| Definition | |||||||||
| Chronological unit | Age | ||||||||
| Stratigraphic unit | Stage | ||||||||
| Time span formality | Formal | ||||||||
| Lower boundary definition | FAD of the Planktonic Foraminifer Microhedbergella renilaevis | ||||||||
| Lower boundary GSSP | Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found.[2] | ||||||||
| Lower GSSP ratified | April 2016[3] | ||||||||
| Upper boundary definition | FAD of the Planktonic Foraminifer Rotalipora globotruncanoides | ||||||||
| Upper boundary GSSP | Mont Risoux, Hautes-Alpes, France Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. | ||||||||
| Upper GSSP ratified | 2002[4] | ||||||||
The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.2 ± 0.3 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.1 Ma (million years ago). The Albian is preceded by the Aptian and followed by the Cenomanian.[5]
Stratigraphic definitions
[edit | edit source]The Albian Stage was first proposed in 1842 by Alcide d'Orbigny. It was named after Alba, the Latin name for River Aube in France.
A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), ratified by the IUGS in 2016, defines the base of the Albian as the first occurrence of the planktonic foraminiferan Microhedbergella renilaevis at the Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France.[6]
The top of the Albian Stage (the base of the Cenomanian Stage and Upper Cretaceous Series) is defined as the place where the foram species Rotalipora globotruncanoides first appears in the stratigraphic column.[7]
The Albian is sometimes subdivided in Early/Lower, Middle and Late/Upper subages or substages. In western Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, a subdivision in two substages (Vraconian and Gaultian) is more often[when?] used[by whom?].
Examples
[edit | edit source]Examples of Albian sedimentary rock are: the phosphorite beds of the Argonne and Bray areas in France; the Flammenmergel of northern Germany; the lignites of Utrillas in Spain; the Upper Nubian Sandstones, and the Fredericksburg beds of North America.[8]
Climate
[edit | edit source]Over the course of the Albian, the area in what is now the Liupanshan Basin, China became progressively hotter and drier.[9]
References
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ For a detailed geologic timescale, see Gradstein et al. (2004)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ See Kennedy et al. (2004) for a description of the GSSP for the Cenomanian
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Literature
[edit | edit source]- Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press.
- Kennedy, W.J.; Gale, A.S.; Lees, J.A. & Caron, M.; 2004: The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Cenomanian Stage, Mont Risou, Hautes-Alpes, France, Episodes 27, pp. 21–32.
- d'Orbigny, A.C.V.M.; 1842: Paléontologie française: Terrains crétacés, vol. ii. (in French)
External links
[edit | edit source]- GeoWhen Database - Albian
- Mid-Cretaceous timescale, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS (The top of the Albian stage is also still visible on their Late Cretaceous timescale)
- Stratigraphic chart of the Lower Cretaceous, at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy
- Albian Stage, Cretaceous Period in Hampshire
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