# Albian

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Sixth and last age of the Early Cretaceous

Albian 113.2 ± 0.3 – 100.5 ± 0.1 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Chronology −140 — – −130 — – −120 — – −110 — – −100 — – −90 — – −80 — – −70 — – Mesozoic C Z J Cretaceous P g L J Early Late P C Tithonian Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian Barremian Aptian Albian Cenomanian Turonian Coniacian Santonian Campanian Maastrichtian Danian ← K-Pg mass extinction Subdivision of the Cretaceous according to the ICS, as of 2024.[1] Vertical axis scale: Millions of years ago Etymology Name formality Formal Usage information Celestial body Earth Regional usage Global (ICS) Time scale(s) used ICS Time Scale Definition Chronological unit Age Stratigraphic unit Stage Time span formality Formal Lower boundary definition FAD of the Planktonic Foraminifer Microhedbergella renilaevis Lower boundary GSSP Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France 44°30′28″N 5°17′50″E / 44.507900°N 5.297300°E / 44.507900; 5.297300[2] Lower GSSP ratified April 2016[3] Upper boundary definition FAD of the Planktonic Foraminifer Rotalipora globotruncanoides Upper boundary GSSP Mont Risoux, Hautes-Alpes, France 44°23′33″N 5°30′43″E / 44.3925°N 5.5119°E / 44.3925; 5.5119 Upper GSSP ratified 2002[4]

The **Albian** is both an [age](/source/Age_(geology)) of the [geologic timescale](/source/Geologic_timescale) and a [stage](/source/Stage_(stratigraphy)) in the [stratigraphic column](/source/Stratigraphic_column). It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the [Early/Lower Cretaceous](/source/Early_Cretaceous) [Epoch](/source/Epoch_(geology))/[Series](/source/Series_(stratigraphy)). Its approximate time range is 113.2 ± 0.3 [Ma](/source/Annum) to 100.5 ± 0.1 Ma (million years ago). The Albian is preceded by the [Aptian](/source/Aptian) and followed by the [Cenomanian](/source/Cenomanian).[5]

## Stratigraphic definitions

The Albian Stage was first proposed in 1842 by [Alcide d'Orbigny](/source/Alcide_d'Orbigny). It was named after Alba, the Latin name for [River Aube](/source/Aube_(river)) in [France](/source/France).

A [Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point](/source/Global_Boundary_Stratotype_Section_and_Point) (GSSP), ratified by the [IUGS](/source/IUGS) in 2016, defines the base of the Albian as the first occurrence of the planktonic [foraminiferan](/source/Foraminifera) *[Microhedbergella renilaevis](/source/Hedbergellidae)* at the Col de Pré-Guittard section, [Arnayon](/source/Arnayon), Drôme, France.[6]

The top of the Albian Stage (the base of the Cenomanian Stage and Upper Cretaceous Series) is defined as the place where the [foram](/source/Foram) species *[Rotalipora globotruncanoides](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rotalipora&action=edit&redlink=1)* first appears in the stratigraphic column.[7]

The Albian is sometimes subdivided in Early/Lower, Middle and Late/Upper subages or substages. In western Europe, especially in the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom), a subdivision in two substages ([Vraconian](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vraconian&action=edit&redlink=1) and [Gaultian](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaultian&action=edit&redlink=1)) is more often[*[when?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items)*] used[*[by whom?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions)*].

## Examples

Examples of Albian sedimentary rock are: the [phosphorite](/source/Phosphorite) beds of the [Argonne](/source/Forest_of_Argonne) and [Bray](/source/Pays_de_Bray) areas in France; the [Flammenmergel](/source/Flammenmergel) of northern [Germany](/source/Germany); the [lignites](/source/Lignite) of [Utrillas](/source/Utrillas) in [Spain](/source/Spain); the Upper [Nubian Sandstones](/source/Nubian_Sandstone), and the [Fredericksburg beds](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fredericksburg_beds&action=edit&redlink=1) of [North America](/source/North_America).[8]

## Climate

See also: [Aptian-Albian Cold Snap](/source/Aptian-Albian_Cold_Snap)

Over the course of the Albian, the area in what is now the Liupanshan Basin, [China](/source/China) became progressively hotter and drier.[9]

## References

### Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ICS_1-0)** ["International Chronostratigraphic Chart"](https://stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/ChronostratChart2024-12.pdf) (PDF). *[International Commission on Stratigraphy](/source/International_Commission_on_Stratigraphy)*. December 2024. Retrieved October 23, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Granier, Bruno (2017). [*Some key Lower Cretaceous sites in Drôme (SE France)*](https://doi.org/10.4267/2042/62543). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.4267/2042/62543](https://doi.org/10.4267%2F2042%2F62543). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-2-916733-13-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-916733-13-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Albian2016_3-0)** Kennedy, J.W.; Gale, A.S.; Huber, B.T.; Petrizzo, M.R.; Bown, P.; Jenkyns, H.C. (2017). ["The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Albian Stage, of the Cretaceous, the Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France"](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10027935/1/Kennedy%2B17.pdf) (PDF). *Episodes*. **40** (3): 177–188. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.18814/epiiugs/2017/v40i3/017021](https://doi.org/10.18814%2Fepiiugs%2F2017%2Fv40i3%2F017021).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Kennedy, W.; Gale, A.; Lees, J.; Caron, M. (March 2004). ["The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Cenomanian Stage, Mont Risou, Hautes-Alpes, France"](https://stratigraphy.org/gssps/files/cenomanian.pdf) (PDF). *Episodes*. **27**: 21–32. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.18814/epiiugs/2004/v27i1/003](https://doi.org/10.18814%2Fepiiugs%2F2004%2Fv27i1%2F003). Retrieved 13 December 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** For a detailed geologic timescale, see Gradstein *et al.* (2004)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-GSSP2016_6-0)** Kennedy, J.W.; Gale, A.S.; Huber, B.T.; Petrizzo, M.R.; Bown, P.; Jenkyns, H.C. (2017). ["The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Albian Stage, of the Cretaceous, the Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France"](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10027935/1/Kennedy%2B17.pdf) (PDF). *Episodes*. **40** (3): 177–188. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.18814/epiiugs/2017/v40i3/017021](https://doi.org/10.18814%2Fepiiugs%2F2017%2Fv40i3%2F017021).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** See Kennedy *et al.* (2004) for a description of the GSSP for the Cenomanian

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): Howe, John Allen (1911). "[Albian](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Albian)". In [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm) (ed.). *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 505.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Zhang, Mingzhen; Dai, Shuang; Jin, Peihong; Liu, Junwei; Huang, Yongbo; Jiaoba, Dunzhu; Li, Aijing (17 June 2023). ["Long-term arid and hot climate during early Mid-Cretaceous indicate by unvaried Cheirolepidiaceae-dominant palynoflora from the Liupanshan Basin, China"](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/gj.4816). *[Geological Journal](/source/Geological_Journal)*. **58** (10): 3899–3914. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2023GeolJ..58.3899Z](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023GeolJ..58.3899Z). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1002/gj.4816](https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fgj.4816). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0072-1050](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0072-1050). Retrieved 1 November 2024 – via Wiley Online Library.

### Literature

- Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.; **2004**: *A Geologic Time Scale 2004*, [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press).

- Kennedy, W.J.; Gale, A.S.; Lees, J.A. & Caron, M.; **2004**: *The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Cenomanian Stage, Mont Risou, Hautes-Alpes, France*, Episodes **27**, pp. 21–32.

- [d'Orbigny, A.C.V.M.](/source/Alcide_d'Orbigny); **1842**: *Paléontologie française: Terrains crétacés*, vol. ii. (in French)

## External links

- [GeoWhen Database - Albian](http://www.stratigraphy.org/bak/geowhen/stages/Albian.html)

- [Mid-Cretaceous timescale](http://stratigraphy.science.purdue.edu/charts/Timeslices/4_Mid-Cret.pdf), at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS (The top of the Albian stage is also still visible on their [Late Cretaceous timescale](http://stratigraphy.science.purdue.edu/charts/Timeslices/3_Late_Cret.pdf))

- [Stratigraphic chart of the Lower Cretaceous](https://web.archive.org/web/20040511055802/http://norges.uio.no/timescale/Fig18.1_Cret_colB.pdf), at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy

- [Albian Stage, Cretaceous Period in Hampshire](https://web.archive.org/web/20060514230224/http://www.hants.gov.uk/museum/geology/periods/albian.html)

v t e Cretaceous Period Lower/Early Cretaceous Upper/Late Cretaceous Berriasian Valanginian Hauterivian Barremian Aptian Albian Cenomanian Turonian Coniacian Santonian Campanian Maastrichtian

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