The Ladinian is a

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media 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 Brit ...

and

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

in the

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epoch (geology), epochs of the Triassic period (geology), period or the middle of three series (stratigraphy), series in which the Triassic system (stratigraphy), system is di ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

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 b ...

. It spans the time between Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago). The Ladinian was preceded by the

Anisian In the geologic timescale, the Anisian is the lower stage (stratigraphy), stage or earliest geologic age, age of the Middle Triassic series (stratigraphy), series or geologic epoch, epoch and lasted from million years ago until million years ag ...

and succeeded by the

Carnian The Carnian (less commonly, Karnian) is the lowermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Triassic series (stratigraphy), Series (or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Triassic Epoch (reference date), Epoch). It lasted from 237 to 227.3 ...

(part of the Upper or Late Triassic). The Ladinian is coeval with the Falangian regional stage used in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Stratigraphic definitions

The Ladinian was established by Austrian geologist

Alexander Bittner Alexander Bittner (16 March 1850 in Friedland – 31 March 1902 in Vienna) was an Austrian paleontologist and geologist. Following graduation from the University of Vienna in 1873, he remained in Vienna as an assistant to Eduard Suess. In 1874-7 ...

in 1892. Its name comes from the

Ladin people The Ladins are an ethnolinguistic group of northern Italy. They are distributed in several valleys, collectively known as Ladinia. These valleys include the valleys of Val Badia, Badia and Val Gardena, Gherdëina in South Tyrol, of Fassa Valley, ...

that live in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

(in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

, then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

). The base of the Ladinian Stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where the

ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

species '' Eoprotrachyceras curionii'' first appears or the first appearance of the conodont ''

Budurovignathus praehungaricus ''Budurovignathus'' is an extinct genus of conodont. Use in stratigraphy The Ladinian The Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago). The Ladinian ...

''. The global reference profile for the base (the

GSSP A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), sometimes referred to as a golden spike, is an internationally agreed upon reference point on a stratigraphic section which defines the lower boundary of a stage on the geologic time scale. ...

) is at an

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...

in the

river bed A streambed or stream bed is the bottom of a stream or river and is confined within a channel or the banks of the waterway. Usually, the bed does not contain terrestrial (land) vegetation and instead supports different types of aquatic vegeta ...

of the Caffaro river at Bagolino, in the

province of Brescia The province of Brescia (; Brescian: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 (as of January 2019) and its capital is the city of Brescia.With an area of 4,785 km2, it is the ...

, northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

.The GSSP was established by Brack ''et al.'' (2005) The top of the Ladinian (the base of the Carnian) is at the first appearance of ammonite species '' Daxatina canadensis''. The Ladinian is sometimes subdivided into two subages or substages, the Fassanian (early or lower) and the Longobardian (late or upper). The Ladinian contains four ammonite biozones, which are evenly distributed among the two substages: *zone of '' Frechites regoledanus'' *zone of '' Protrachyceras archelaus'' *zone of ''Protrachyceras gredleri'' *zone of ''Eoprotrachyceras curionii''

Ladinian life

Notable formations

* Upper

Besano Formation The Besano Formation is a geological formation in the southern Alps of northwestern Italy and southern Switzerland. This formation, a thin but fossiliferous succession of Dolomite (rock), dolomite and Shale, black shale, is famous for its preserva ...

(Switzerland and Italy) *

Erfurt Formation The Erfurt Formation, also known as the Lower Keuper (German: ''Untere Keuper'', ''Lettenkeuper'', ''Lettenkohle'' or ''Lettenkohlenkeuper''), is a stratigraphic formation of the Keuper group and the Germanic Trias supergroup. It was deposited ...

/ Lower Keuper (Germany) * Jilh Formation (

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

) * Meride Limestone (Switzerland and Italy) * Upper Muschelkalk (central Europe) * Perledo-Varenna Formation (Italy) * Prosanto Formation (Switzerland) *

Zhuganpo Formation The Zhuganpo Formation is a Triassic geologic unit found in southern China. It has historically been known as the Zhuganpo Member of the Falang Formation. A diverse fossil assemblage known as the Xingyi biota or Xingyi Fauna can be found in the u ...

/ Zhuganpo Member of the Falang Formation (late Ladinian - early Carnian) (

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

and

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

)

References

Notes

Literature

*; 2005: ''The Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Ladinian Stage (Middle Triassic) at Bagolino (Southern Alps, Northern Italy) and its implications for the Triassic time scale'', Episodes 28(4), pp. 233–244. *; 2004: ''A Geologic Time Scale 2004'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

External links

GeoWhen Database - Ladinian

Upper Triassic
an
Lower Triassic
timescales, at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS *Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy: ''Stratigraphic charts for the Triassic''

an

{{Authority control Ladinian, *02 Geological ages Triassic geochronology