Langhian

Summary

The Langhian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, an age or stage in the middle Miocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma and 13.65 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago) during the Middle Miocene.[5]

Langhian
15.97 – 13.82 Ma
Chronology
Formerly part ofTertiary Period/System
Etymology
Name formalityFormal
Usage information
Celestial bodyEarth
Regional usageGlobal (ICS)
Time scale(s) usedICS Time Scale
Definition
Chronological unitAge
Stratigraphic unitStage
Time span formalityFormal
Lower boundary definitionNot formally defined
Lower boundary definition candidates
Lower boundary GSSP candidate section(s)
Upper boundary definitionMi3b Oxygen-isotopic event (Global cooling episode)
Upper boundary GSSPRas il Pellegrin section, Fomm ir-Riħ Bay, Malta
35°54′50″N 14°20′10″E / 35.9139°N 14.3361°E / 35.9139; 14.3361
Upper GSSP ratified2007[4]

The Langhian was a continuing warming period[6] defined by Lorenzo Pareto in 1865, it was originally established in the Langhe area north of Ceva in northern Italy, hence the name. The Langhian is preceded by the Burdigalian and followed by the Serravallian Stage.

Stratigraphic definition edit

The base of the Langhian is defined by the first appearance of foraminifer species Praeorbulina glomerosa and is also coeval with the top of magnetic chronozone C5Cn.1n. A GSSP for the Langhian Stage was not yet established in 2009.

The top of the Langhian Stage (the base of the Serravallian Stage) is at the first occurrence of fossils of the nanoplankton species Sphenolithus heteromorphus and is located in magnetic chronozone C5ABr.

The Langhian is coeval with the Orleanian and Astaracian European Land Mammal Mega Zones (more precisely: with biozones MN5 and MN6, MN6 starts just below the Langhian-Serravallian boundary[7]), with the upper Hemingfordian to mid-Barstovian North American Land Mammal Ages,[5] with mid-Relizian to Luisian Californian regional stages (the Luisian extends barely into the early Serravallian[5]), with the early-mid Badenian Paratethys stage of Central and eastern Europe,[7] with the Tozawan stage in Japan (which runs barely into the early Serravallian[5]), with the late Batesfordian through Balcombian to early Bairnsdalian Australian stages[5] and with the mid-Cliffdenian to mid-Lillburnian New Zealand stages.[5]

Paleontology edit

Reptiles edit

Cartilaginous fish edit

Sharks, rays, skates and relatives

 
Grizzled Giant Squirrel, Ratufa macroura. Its genus was probably already distinct in the Langhian.

Mammals edit

Climate edit

In August 2021, the 6th IPCC report indicated that global temperature was 4°C– 10°C warmer during the Miocene Climatic Optimum (16.9-14.7 Ma ago) than 1850-1900.[8]

See also edit

References edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Krijgsman, W.; Garcés, M.; Langereis, C. G.; Daams, R.; Van Dam, J.; Van Der Meulen, A. J.; Agustí, J.; Cabrera, L. (1996). "A new chronology for the middle to late Miocene continental record in Spain". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 142 (3–4): 367–380. Bibcode:1996E&PSL.142..367K. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(96)00109-4.
  2. ^ Retallack, G. J. (1997). "Neogene Expansion of the North American Prairie". PALAIOS. 12 (4): 380–390. doi:10.2307/3515337. JSTOR 3515337. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  3. ^ "ICS Timescale Chart" (PDF). www.stratigraphy.org.
  4. ^ Hilgen, F. J.; H. A. Abels; S. Iaccarino; W. Krijgsman; I. Raffi; R. Sprovieri; E. Turco; W. J. Zachariasse (2009). "The Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Serravallian Stage (Middle Miocene)" (PDF). Episodes. 32 (3): 152–166. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2009/v32i3/002. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f GeoWhen (2007)
  6. ^ Edward Petuch, Ph.D. Florida Atlantic University, Department of Geosciences."FAU Department of Geosciences". Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2010-05-01., Author, Cenozoic Seas: The View From Eastern North America. ISBN 0-8493-1632-4
  7. ^ a b Palaeos (2003)
  8. ^ "AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis — IPCC".

Literature edit

  • Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press.
  • Pareto, L.; 1865: Note sur les subdivisions que l'on pourrait établir dans les terrains tertaires de l'Apennin septentrional, Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 2(22), p. 210-277. PDF Archived 2021-01-15 at the Wayback Machine (in French)

External links edit

  • GeoWhen Database - Langhian
  • Neogene timescale, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS
  • Neogene timescale at the website of the Norwegian network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy