In the

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 geochron ...

, the Roadian is an

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 ...

or stage of the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

. It is the earliest or lower of three subdivisions of the

Guadalupian The Guadalupian is the second and middle Series (stratigraphy), series/Epoch (geology), epoch of the Permian. The Guadalupian was preceded by the Cisuralian and followed by the Lopingian. It is named after the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico an ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The Roadian lasted between and million years ago (Ma). It was preceded by the Kungurian and followed by the Wordian.

Stratigraphy

In 1961, the regional timescale used for the southeastern US had the Wordian and

Capitanian In the geologic timescale, the Capitanian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the uppermost or latest of three subdivisions of the Guadalupian Epoch or Series. The Capitanian lasted between and million years ago. It was preceded by t ...

as subdivisions of the Guadalupian. Efforts to correlate the Permian stratigraphy of the southeastern US with that of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

led to the conclusion that between the Wordian stage and the Russian Artinskian stage, another stage needed to be introduced. This stage, the Roadian Stage, was established in 1968 and took its name from the Road Canyon Formation in Brewster County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, formerly considered the lower (oldest) part of the

Word Formation In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term that can refer to either: * the processes through which words can change (i.e. morphology), or * the creation of new lexemes in a particular language Morphological A common method of word form ...

. The stage was added to the internationally used

IUGS The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to global cooperation in the field of geology. As of 2023, it represents more than 1 million geoscientists around the world. About Fo ...

timescale in 2001.; 1999: ''Proposal of Guadalupian and Component Roadian, Wordian and Capitanian Stages as International Standards for the Middle Permian Series'', Permophiles 34: pp 3–11. The base of the Roadian is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where fossils of

conodont Conodonts, are an extinct group of marine jawless vertebrates belonging to the class Conodonta (from Ancient Greek κῶνος (''kōnos''), meaning " cone", and ὀδούς (''odoús''), meaning "tooth"). They are primarily known from their hard ...

species ''Jinogondolella nankingensis'' first appears. 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 located in Stratotype Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains,

(). The top of the Roadian (the base of the Wordian Stage) is at the first appearance of fossils of conodont species ''Jinogondolella aserrata''.

Life

Some studies suggested that Olson’s Extinction, a worldwide loss of terrestrial vertebrate life occurred during the Early Guadalupian (Roadian, Wordian), but the temporal resolution of most studies only indicates that this possible extinction event indicates around the Kungurian/Roadian boundary. Studies using higher-resolution stratigraphic data and the fossilized birth-death model suggest that this even is actually a slow decline over 20 Ma that started in the Sakmarian and that may have extended into the Roadian.

Notable formations

Cherry Canyon Formation The Cherry Canyon Formation is a geologic formation found in the Delaware Basin of southeastern New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain S ...

(

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, USA) * Road Canyon Formation (

, USA)

References

Literature

External links

GeoWhen Database - RoadianUpper Paleozoic stratigraphic chart
at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS {{Geological history, p, p Permian geochronology . Permian geology of Texas