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 Capitanian 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 also the uppermost or latest 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 ...
or
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 Capitanian lasted between and million years ago. It was preceded by the
Wordian and followed by the
Wuchiapingian
In the geologic timescale, the Wuchiapingian or Wujiapingian (from in the Liangshan area of Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province ) is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the lower or earlier of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or S ...
.
[; 2004: ''A Geologic Time Scale 2004'', ]Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
Press
A significant mass extinction event occurred at the end of this stage, which was associated with
anoxia and
acidification in the oceans and possibly caused by the volcanic eruptions that produced the
Emeishan Traps.
This extinction event may be related to the much larger
Permian–Triassic extinction event
The Permian–Triassic extinction event (also known as the P–T extinction event, the Late Permian extinction event, the Latest Permian extinction event, the End-Permian extinction event, and colloquially as the Great Dying,) was an extinction ...
that followed about 10 million years later.
Stratigraphy
The Capitanian Stage was introduced into scientific literature by
George Burr Richardson in 1904. The name comes from the
Capitan Reef in the
Guadalupe Mountains (
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 ...
, United States). The Capitanian was first used as a stratigraphic subdivision of the Guadalupian in 1961, when both names were still only used regionally in the southern US. The stage was added to the internationally used
ICS timescale in 2001.
Definitions
The base of the Capitanian Stage 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
''Jinogondolella'' is an extinct genus of conodonts. Mesogondolella and Jinogondolella (Conodonta): Multielement definition of the taxa that bracket the basal Guadalupian
The Guadalupian is the second and middle Series (stratigraphy), series/ ...
postserrata'' first appear. The global reference profile for this stratigraphic boundary is located at Nipple Hill in the southern Guadalupe Mountains of Texas.
The top of the Capitanian (the base of the Wuchiapingian and Lopingian series) is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where the conodont species ''
Clarkina postbitteri postbitteri'' first appears.
The Capitanian Stage was part of the time in which the
Zechstein
The Zechstein ( German either from ''mine stone'' or ''tough stone'') is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Late Permian ( Lopingian) age located in the European Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of England to northern Poland. T ...
was deposited in Europe.
It is coeval with the old European regional Saxonian Stage. In the eastern
Tethys domain, the Capitanian overlaps the regional Murgabian Stage, the Midian Stage and the lower part of the Laibinian Stage. In Russia the Capitanian equals the lower part of the regional Severodvinian Stage.
Biostratigraphy
The Capitanian contains one
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 ...
biozone (''
Timorites'') and three conodont biozones:
*zone of ''
Clarkina postbitteri hongshuiensis''
*zone of ''Jinogondolella altudaensis''
*zone of ''Jinogondolella postserrata''
Larger fusulinid species permit a division in two biozones:
*zone of ''
Rausserella''
*zone of ''
Afganella schenki''
Capitanian life
Olson’s Extinction, in the early
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 ...
(
Roadian,
Wordian), led to an extended period of low diversity when worldwide two-thirds of terrestrial vertebrate life was lost. Global diversity rose dramatically in the Capitanian, probably the result of disaster taxa filling empty guilds, only to fall again when the end-Guadalupian event caused a diversity drop in the
Wuchiapingian
In the geologic timescale, the Wuchiapingian or Wujiapingian (from in the Liangshan area of Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province ) is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the lower or earlier of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or S ...
.
Notable formations
*
Capitan Formation (
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 ...
,
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 ...
, USA)
Events
Carbon isotope
Carbon (6C) has 14 known isotopes, from to as well as , of which only and are stable. The longest-lived radioisotope is , with a half-life of years. This is also the only carbon radioisotope found in nature, as trace quantities are formed ...
s in
marine limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
from the Capitanian age show an increase in δ
13C values. The change in carbon isotopes in the sea water reflects
cooling of global climates.
This climatic cooling may have caused the end-Capitanian extinction event among species that lived in warm water, like larger
fusulinids (Verbeekninidae), large
bivalve
Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...
s (
Alatoconchidae) and
rugose
Rugose means "wrinkled". It may refer to:
* Rugosa, an extinct order of coral, whose rugose shape earned it the name
* Rugose, adjectival form of rugae
Species with "rugose" in their names
* ''Idiosoma nigrum'', more commonly, a black rugose tra ...
corals, and Waagenophyllidae.
References
External links
GeoWhen Database - CapitanianUpper Paleozoic stratigraphic chartat the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS
{{Geological history, p, p
Permian geochronology
Guadalupian
.
Permian geology of Texas