The Bartonian is, in the
ICS
ICS may refer to:
Computing
* Image Cytometry Standard, a digital multidimensional image file format used in life sciences microscopy
* Industrial control system, computer systems and networks used to control industrial plants and infrastructu ...
's
geologic time scale
The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geoch ...
, a
stage or
age in the middle
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
Epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...
or
Series. The Bartonian Age spans the time between . It is preceded by the
Lutetian
The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage (stratigraphy), stage or age (geology), age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it ...
and is followed by the
Priabonian
The Priabonian is, in the ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age or the upper stage of the Eocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage ...
Age.
International Commission on Stratigraphy 2017
/ref>
Stratigraphic definition
The Bartonian Stage was introduced by Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internati ...
stratigrapher Karl Mayer-Eymar
Karl David Wilhelm Mayer-Eymar (29 July 1826 – 25 February 1907) was a Franco-Swiss paleontologist and geologist known for his work on classifying the stratigraphy of the Tertiary into 12 stages. He was born Karl Mayer but added the anagram Eyma ...
in 1857. The name derives from the coastal village Barton-on-Sea
Barton on Sea (often hyphenated as Barton-on-Sea) is a cliff-top village in Hampshire, England with close connections, physical, governmental and commercial, to the inland town, New Milton which is its civil parish to the north. As a settlement ...
(part of New Milton
New Milton is a market town in southwest Hampshire, England. To the north is in the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. The town is equidistant between Lymington and Christchurch, 6 miles (10 km) away.
History
N ...
) in southern England. The Barton Group
The Barton Group is a geological group found in the Hampshire Basin of Southern England. It ranges in age from Lutetian (Lower Eocene) to Priabonian (Upper Eocene). It is exposed on the coast in southern Hampshire and in the northern part of the I ...
, a lithostratigraphic
Lithostratigraphy is a sub-discipline of stratigraphy, the geological science associated with the study of strata or rock layers. Major focuses include geochronology, comparative geology, and petrology.
In general, strata are primarily igneous ...
unit from the south English Hampshire Basin
The Hampshire Basin is a geological basin of Palaeogene age in southern England, underlying parts of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, and Sussex. Like the London Basin to the northeast, it is filled with sands and clays of Paleocene and ...
, is of Bartonian age. The distinction between group and stage was made in the second part of the 20th century, when stratigraphers saw the need to distinguish between litho- and chronostratigraphy
Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that studies the ages of rock strata in relation to time.
The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to arrange the sequence of deposition and the time of deposition of all rocks within a geologica ...
.
The base of the Bartonian is at the first appearance of the calcareous nanoplankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...
species ''Reticulofenestra reticulata''. In 2009, an official reference profile (GSSP
A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) is an internationally agreed upon reference point on a stratigraphic section which defines the lower boundary of a stage on the geologic time scale. The effort to define GSSPs is conducted ...
) for the base of the Bartonian had not yet been established.
The top of the Bartonian Stage (the base of the Priabonian) is at the first appearance of calcareous nanoplankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...
species ''Chiasmolithus oamaruensis'' (which forms the base of nanoplankton biozone
In biostratigraphy, biostratigraphic units or biozones are intervals of geological strata that are defined on the basis of their characteristic fossil taxa, as opposed to a lithostratigraphic unit which is defined by the lithological properties ...
NP18).
The Bartonian Stage overlaps part of the upper Robiacian European Land Mammal Mega Zone
The European Land Mammal Mega Zones (abbreviation: ELMMZ, more commonly known as European land mammal ages or ELMA) are zones in rock layers that have a specific assemblage of fossils ( biozones) based on occurrences of fossil assemblages of Europ ...
(it spans the Mammal Paleogene zone 16), the upper Uintan
The Uintan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages
The North American land mammal ages (NALMA) establishes a geologic timescale for North American fauna b ...
and Duchesnean
The Duchesnean North American Stage on the geologic timescale is a North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA), with an age from 42 to 38 million years BP, representing . It falls within the Eocene epoch. The Duchesnean is preceded by the Uintan and f ...
North American Land Mammal Ages
The North American land mammal ages (NALMA) establishes a geologic timescale for North American fauna beginning during the Late Cretaceous and continuing through to the present. These periods are referred to as ages or intervals (or stages when re ...
, part of the Divisaderan South American Land Mammal Age
The South American land mammal ages (SALMA) establish a geologic timescale for prehistoric South American fauna beginning 64.5 Ma during the Paleocene and continuing through to the Late Pleistocene (0.011 Ma). These periods are referred to as age ...
and is coeval with the Sharamururian Asian Land Mammal Age.
The Auversian
The Bartonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS's geologic time scale, a stage (stratigraphy), stage or age (geology), age in the middle Eocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. The Bartonian Age sp ...
regional stage of France is coeval with the Bartonian and is therefore no longer used.
References
Footnotes
Literature
*; 2004: ''A Geologic Time Scale 2004'', Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambr ...
.
*; 1857: ''Tableau synchronique des formations tertiaires d'Europe'', 3rd ed., Zürich.
External links
GeoWhen Database – Bartonian
Paleogene timescale
at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS
Stratigraphic chart of the Paleogene
at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy
{{Geological history, p, c
Eocene geochronology
Geological ages