{{short description|Sixth and last age of the Early Cretaceous}} {{Infobox geologic timespan | name = Albian | color = Albian | time_start = 113.2 | time_start_uncertainty = 0.3 | time_end = 100.5 | time_end_uncertainty = 0.1 | image_map = | caption_map = | image_outcrop = | caption_outcrop = | image_art = | caption_art = <!--Chronology--> | timeline = Cretaceous | formerly_part_of = | partially_contained_in = | partially_contains = <!--Etymology--> | name_formality = Formal | name_accept_date = | alternate_spellings = | synonym1 = | synonym1_coined = | synonym2 = | synonym2_coined = | synonym3 = | synonym3_coined = | nicknames = | former_names = | proposed_names = <!--Usage Information--> | celestial_body = earth | usage = Global (ICS) | timescales_used = ICS Time Scale | formerly_used_by = | not_used_by = <!--Definition--> | chrono_unit = Age | strat_unit = Stage | proposed_by = | type_section = | timespan_formality = Formal | lower_boundary_def = FAD of the Planktonic Foraminifer ''Microhedbergella renilaevis'' | lower_gssp_location = Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France | lower_gssp_coords = {{Coor|44.507900|N|5.297300|E|display=inline}}<ref>{{cite book | last1=Granier | first1=Bruno | title=Some key Lower Cretaceous sites in Drôme (SE France) | date=2017 | doi=10.4267/2042/62543 | isbn=978-2-916733-13-5 | url=https://doi.org/10.4267/2042/62543 }}</ref> | lower_gssp_accept_date = April 2016<ref name="Albian2016">{{cite journal | title=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 | first1=J.W. | last1=Kennedy | first2=A.S. | last2=Gale | first3=B.T. | last3=Huber | first4=M.R. | last4=Petrizzo | first5=P. | last5=Bown | first6=H.C. | last6=Jenkyns | journal=Episodes | year=2017 | volume=40 | issue=3 | pages=177–188 | doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2017/v40i3/017021| doi-access=free | url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10027935/1/Kennedy%2B17.pdf }}</ref> | upper_boundary_def = FAD of the Planktonic Foraminifer ''Rotalipora globotruncanoides'' | upper_gssp_location = Mont Risoux, Hautes-Alpes, France | upper_gssp_coords = {{Coord|44.3925|N|5.5119|E|display=inline}} | upper_gssp_accept_date = 2002<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kennedy |first1=W. |last2=Gale |first2=A. |last3=Lees |first3=J. |last4=Caron |first4=M. |title=The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Cenomanian Stage, Mont Risou, Hautes-Alpes, France |journal=Episodes |date=March 2004 |volume=27 |pages=21–32 |doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2004/v27i1/003 |doi-access=free |url=https://stratigraphy.org/gssps/files/cenomanian.pdf |access-date=13 December 2020}}</ref> <!--Atmospheric and Climatic Data--> | o2 = | co2 = | temp = | sea_level = }}
The '''Albian''' is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.2 ± 0.3 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.1 Ma (million years ago). The Albian is preceded by the Aptian and followed by the Cenomanian.<ref>For a detailed geologic timescale, see Gradstein ''et al.'' (2004)</ref>
==Stratigraphic definitions== The Albian Stage was first proposed in 1842 by Alcide d'Orbigny. It was named after Alba, the Latin name for River Aube in France.
A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), ratified by the IUGS in 2016, defines the base of the Albian as the first occurrence of the planktonic foraminiferan ''Microhedbergella renilaevis'' at the Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France.<ref name="GSSP2016">{{cite journal | title=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 | first1=J.W. | last1=Kennedy | first2=A.S. | last2=Gale | first3=B.T. | last3=Huber | first4=M.R. | last4=Petrizzo | first5=P. | last5=Bown | first6=H.C. | last6=Jenkyns | journal=Episodes | year=2017 | volume=40 | issue=3 | pages=177–188 | doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2017/v40i3/017021| doi-access=free | url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10027935/1/Kennedy%2B17.pdf }}</ref>
The top of the Albian Stage (the base of the Cenomanian Stage and Upper Cretaceous Series) is defined as the place where the foram species ''Rotalipora globotruncanoides'' first appears in the stratigraphic column.<ref>See Kennedy ''et al.'' (2004) for a description of the GSSP for the Cenomanian</ref>
The Albian is sometimes subdivided in Early/Lower, Middle and Late/Upper subages or substages. In western Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, a subdivision in two substages (Vraconian and Gaultian) is more often{{when|date=December 2024}} used{{by who|date=December 2024}}.
==Examples== Examples of Albian sedimentary rock are: the phosphorite beds of the Argonne and Bray areas in France; the Flammenmergel of northern Germany; the lignites of Utrillas in Spain; the Upper Nubian Sandstones, and the Fredericksburg beds of North America.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Albian|volume=1|page=505|first=John Allen|last=Howe}}</ref>
== Climate == {{See also|Aptian-Albian Cold Snap}} Over the course of the Albian, the area in what is now the Liupanshan Basin, China became progressively hotter and drier.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Mingzhen |last2=Dai |first2=Shuang |last3=Jin |first3=Peihong |last4=Liu |first4=Junwei |last5=Huang |first5=Yongbo |last6=Jiaoba |first6=Dunzhu |last7=Li |first7=Aijing |date=17 June 2023 |title=Long-term arid and hot climate during early Mid-Cretaceous indicate by unvaried Cheirolepidiaceae-dominant palynoflora from the Liupanshan Basin, China |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/gj.4816 |journal=Geological Journal |language=en |volume=58 |issue=10 |pages=3899–3914 |doi=10.1002/gj.4816 |bibcode=2023GeolJ..58.3899Z |issn=0072-1050 |access-date=1 November 2024 |via=Wiley Online Library|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== References ==
===Notes=== {{reflist}}
===Literature=== *{{aut|Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.}}; '''2004''': ''A Geologic Time Scale 2004'', Cambridge University Press. *{{aut|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. *{{aut|d'Orbigny, A.C.V.M.}}; '''1842''': ''Paléontologie française: Terrains crétacés'', vol. ii. {{in lang|fr}}
==External links== *[http://www.stratigraphy.org/bak/geowhen/stages/Albian.html GeoWhen Database - Albian] *[http://stratigraphy.science.purdue.edu/charts/Timeslices/4_Mid-Cret.pdf Mid-Cretaceous timescale], at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS (The top of the Albian stage is also still visible on their [http://stratigraphy.science.purdue.edu/charts/Timeslices/3_Late_Cret.pdf Late Cretaceous timescale]) *[https://web.archive.org/web/20040511055802/http://norges.uio.no/timescale/Fig18.1_Cret_colB.pdf Stratigraphic chart of the Lower Cretaceous], at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060514230224/http://www.hants.gov.uk/museum/geology/periods/albian.html Albian Stage, Cretaceous Period in Hampshire]
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Category:Albian *06 Category:Geological ages Category:Cretaceous geochronology