The Moscovian 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 ...

geologic timescale 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 ...

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming olde ...

in the

Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesca ...

, the youngest

subsystem A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...

of the Carboniferous. The Moscovian age lasted from to Ma, is preceded by the

Bashkirian The Bashkirian is in the ICS geologic timescale the lowest stage or oldest age of the Pennsylvanian. The Bashkirian age lasted from to Ma, is preceded by the Serpukhovian and is followed by the Moscovian. The Bashkirian overlaps with the ...

and is followed by the

Kasimovian The Kasimovian is a geochronologic age or chronostratigraphic stage in the ICS geologic timescale. It is the third stage in the Pennsylvanian (late Carboniferous), lasting from to Ma.; 2004: ''A Geologic Time Scale 2004'', Cambridge Universi ...

. The Moscovian overlaps with the European regional Westphalian stage and the North American Atokan and Desmoinesian stages.

Name and definition

The Moscovian Stage was introduced by Sergei Nikitin (1850 - 1909) in 1890, using

brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, wh ...

in the Moscow Basin of

European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...

. Nikitin named the stage after

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, then a major city and now the capital of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. The base of the Moscovian is close to the first appearances of the

conodont Conodonts ( Greek ''kōnos'', " cone", + ''odont'', " tooth") are an extinct group of agnathan (jawless) vertebrates resembling eels, classified in the class Conodonta. For many years, they were known only from their tooth-like oral elements, w ...

s ''

Declinognathodus donetzianus ''Declinognathodus'' is an extinct genus of platform conodonts. Use in stratigraphy The Bashkirian, the oldest age of the Pennsylvanian (also known as Upper Carboniferous), contains six biozones based on conodont index fossils, two of which a ...

'' and ''

Idiognathoides postsulcatus ''Idiognathoides'' is an extinct genus of conodonts. Glen K. Merrill stated in 1963 that "conodont workers have considered ''Idiognathoides'' to be a junior synonym of '' Polygnathodella'' but it now proves to be a junior synonym of ''Cavusgnat ...

'' or otherwise the

fusulinid The Fusulinida is an extinct order within the Foraminifera in which the tests are traditionally considered to have been composed of microgranular calcite. Like all forams, they were single-celled organisms. In advanced forms the test wall was dif ...

''Aljutovella aljutovica''. Because the fusulinid species are regionally different, they can not be used for worldwide correlation. A

Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point 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 Moscovian Stage has yet to be defined (2008). A proposal is to use the first appearance of the conodont ''

Diplognathodus ellesmerensis ''Diplognathodus'' is an extinct genus of conodonts in the family Anchignathodontidae. Specimens are found in Carboniferous and Permian formations. The genus ''Sweetognathus'' originated in the earliest Permian as ''Sweetognathus expansus, S. e ...

'', but since the species is rare and its evolution relatively unknown, it has not been accepted yet.
a report by the taskforce to establish a Bashkirian-Moscovian boundary (Groves ''et al.'' (2008)) The top of the Moscovian (base of the Kasimovian) is at the base of the fusulinid

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 ...

of ''Obsoletes obsoletes'' and ''Protriticites pseudomontiparus'', or with the first appearance of the

ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttle ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

''Parashumardites''.

Subdivisions

In European Russia and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

, where the stage was first recognized, the Moscovian is subdivided into four regional substages: Vereiskian, Kashirskian, Podolskian, and Myachkovskian, named after towns near Moscow (

Vereya Vereya (russian: Верея) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Vereya, Naro-Fominsky District, Moscow Oblast, a town in Naro-Fominsky District of Moscow Oblast ;Rural localities * Vereya, Orekhovo-Zuyevsk ...

Kashira Kashira (russian: Каши́ра) is a town and the administrative center of Kashirsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River south of Moscow. Population: History It was first mentioned in 1356 as the village of Koshira ...

Podolsk Podolsk ( rus, Подольск, p=pɐˈdolʲsk) is an industrial city, center of Podolsk Urban Okrug, Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Pakhra River (a tributary of the Moskva River). History The first mentions of the village of Podol, ...

, and

Myachkovo Myachkovo (russian: Мячково) is the name of several rural localities in Russia. * Myachkovo, Kaluga Oblast, a village in Babyninsky District of Kaluga Oblast *Myachkovo, Moscow Oblast, a '' selo'' in Raduzhnoye Rural Settlement of Kol ...

). The Moscovian can biostratigraphically be divided into five conodont

s: * ''Neognathodus roundyi'' and ''Streptognathodus cancellosus'' Zone * ''Neognathodus medexultimus'' and ''Streptognathodus concinnus'' Zone * ''Streptognathodus dissectus'' Zone * ''Neognathodus uralicus'' Zone * ''Declinognathodus donetzianus'' Zone

References

External links

Carboniferous timescale
at the website of the Norwegian network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy

{{Geological history, p, p, state=collapsed Pennsylvanian geochronology Geological ages