The Campanian is the fifth of six

ages Ages may refer to: *Advanced glycation end-products, known as AGEs *Ages, Kentucky, census-designated place, United States * ''Ages'' (album) by German electronic musician Edgar Froese *The geologic time scale, a system of chronological measuremen ...

of the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

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 ...

on 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 geochronol ...

of the

International Commission on Stratigraphy The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), sometimes referred to unofficially as the "International Stratigraphic Commission", is a daughter or major subcommittee grade scientific daughter organization that concerns itself with stratigra ...

(ICS). In

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 ...

, it is the fifth of six

stages 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 * S ...

in the

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

Series. Campanian spans the time from 83.6 (± 0.2) to 72.1 (± 0.2) million years ago. It is preceded by the

Santonian The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya (million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 mya. The ...

and it is followed by the

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from ...

. The Campanian was an age when a worldwide

sea level rise Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...

covered many coastal areas. The

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

of some of these areas has been preserved: it is an

unconformity An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval o ...

beneath a cover of marine

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

Etymology

The Campanian was introduced in scientific literature by Henri Coquand in 1857. It is named after the French village of Champagne in the department of Charente-Maritime. The original type locality was a series of outcrop near the village of

Aubeterre-sur-Dronne Aubeterre-sur-Dronne (, literally ''Aubeterre on Dronne''; oc, Aubaterra or ''Aubaterra de Drona''), commonly referred to as Aubeterre, is a commune in the Charente department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. In 2017, it h ...

in the same region.

Definition

The base of the Campanian Stage is defined as a place in the stratigraphic column where the

extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

of crinoid species ''

Marsupites ''Marsupites'' is an extinct genus of crinoids from the Santonian stage of the Late Cretaceous.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 b ...

or GSSP had not yet been ratified as of 2009: one possible candidate is a section near a dam at Waxahachie, Texas.) The top of the Campanian stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic column where 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 cuttlefish) ...

Pachydiscus ''Pachydiscus'' is an extinct genus of ammonite from the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene with a worldwide distribution, and type for the desmoceratacean family Pachydiscidae. The genus' type species is ''P. neubergicus''. Altogether some 28 s ...

neubergicus'' first appears.

Subdivisions

The Campanian can be subdivided into Lower, Middle and Upper Subages. In the western interior of the United States, the base of the Middle Campanian is defined as the first occurrence of the ammonite '' Baculites obtusus'' (80.97 Ma) and the base of the Upper Campanian defined as the first occurrence of the ammonite '' Didymoceras nebrascense.'' (76.27 Ma) In the Tethys domain, the Campanian encompasses six ammonite biozones. They are, from young to old: * zone of '' Nostoceras hyatti'' * zone of ''

Didymoceras ''Didymoceras'' is an extinct genus of ammonite cephalopod from the Late Cretaceous epoch (approximately 76 Ma). It is one of the most bizarrely shaped genera, with a shell that spirals upwards into a loose, hooked tip. It is thought to have drif ...

chayennense'' * zone of '' Bostrychoceras polyplocum'' * zone of '' Hoplitoplacenticeras marroti'' / ''Hoplitoplacenticeras vari'' * zone of '' Delawarella delawarensis'' * zone of ''

Placenticeras ''Placenticeras'' is a genus of ammonites from the Late Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in Asia, Europe, North and South America. Taxonomy ''Placenticeras'', named by Fielding Bradford Meek, 1870, is the type genus for the Placenticerat ...

bidorsatum''

Paleontology

During the Campanian age, a

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

among

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

species occurred. In North America, for example, the number of known dinosaur

genera 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 nomenclat ...

rises from 4 at the base of the Campanian to 48 in the upper part. This development is sometimes referred to as the "Campanian Explosion". However, it is not yet clear if the event is artificial, i.e. the low number of genera in the lower Campanian can be caused by a lower preservation chance for fossils in deposits of that age. The generally warm climates and large continental area covered in shallow sea during the Campanian probably favoured the dinosaurs. In the following Maastrichtian stage, the number of North American dinosaur genera found is 30% less than in the upper Campanian.See Weishampel ''et al.'' (2004)

References

External links

GeoWhen Database – Campanian

Late Cretaceous timescale
at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS
Stratigraphic chart of the Late Cretaceous
at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy
Campanian Microfossils: 75+ images of Foraminifera
{{Geological history, p, m *05 Geological ages Cretaceous geochronology