Langhian

The Langhium is in the geologic timescale, the third stage of the Miocene ( Neogene ) and the lower stage of the Middle Miocene. The stage represents geochronological the period from about 15.97 to about 13.82 million years. The stage following the Burdigalian and is detached from the Serravallium.

Naming and history

The name of the stage comes from the Langhe region, which extends to the right of the river Tanaro in the province of Cuneo and Asti in Piedmont (Northern Italy). The stage and the name were proposed by the Italian geologists Lorenzo Pareto in 1864 and introduced in the scientific literature.

Definition and GSSP

The lower boundary of the stage is defined by the Ersteinsetzen the foraminiferal species Praeorbulina glomerosa or the upper limit of the magnetic polarity chronozone C5Cn.1n. The border to the subsequent stage of Serravallium is by the first appearance of Nannofossil Type Sphenolithus heteromorphus. It is located within the magnetic polarity chronozone C5ABr. An official type profile ( GSSP = " Global Stratotype Section and Point" ) has not yet been defined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.