Thanetian

The Thanetium ( shortened or even Thanet Thanet stage) is in the Earth's upper stratigraphic level of the Paleocene ( within the Paleogene ). It is therefore equated with the Upper Paleocene. The Thanetium includes geochronological about the period 59.2 to 56 million years ago. The Thanetium following the Seelandium and is detached from the Ypresium, the lowest level of the Eocene.

At the transition from Thanetium to Ypresium was the Paleocene / Eocene Thermal Maximum.

Naming and history

The stage is named after the English Isle of Thanet (Kent), on which the type locality is located. The name was introduced by the Swiss geologist Eugène Renevier 1874 in the scientific literature.

Definition and GSSP

The base of the stage was placed at the base of the magnetic polarity zone C26n Chrono. The upper limit of the level (or the lower limit of the above the following Ypresium level ) is defined by a negative carbon isotope horizon. A globally applicable reference profile ( GSSP = Global Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of Thanetium is not yet ratified.

Correlation

In the biostratigraphic subdivision of the European terrestrial Paleogene with the help of land mammals ( ELMMZ Paleogene ) the Thanetium corresponds to the lower part of the Neustrium. In the biostratigraphic subdivision of the East Asian terrestrial Paleogene with the help of land mammals ( ALMA), the Gashatan corresponds to the upper Thanetium.