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| Ladinian | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ladinian |
| Color | #FFC0CB |
| Time start | 242.0 |
| Time end | 235.0 |
| Unit of | Middle Triassic |
| Preceded by | Anisian |
| Followed by | Carnian |
Ladinian The Ladinian is a formal stage and time interval of the Middle Triassic, used in global chronostratigraphy to subdivide Triassic strata. It is recognized in international stratigraphic charts and regional lithostratigraphic schemes, and it plays a key role in correlating sequences between Alpine, North American, Tethyan and Panthalassic successions.
The Ladinian stage was ratified using type sections and boundary definitions tied to biostratigraphic markers and magnetostratigraphy; its base is defined by first appearance data tied to conodont events in sections such as the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point concepts exemplified by Alpine type localities. It sits above the Anisian stage and below the Carnian stage in the Middle Triassic Series, and is integrated into the International Commission on Stratigraphy timescale and regional stages like the Ypresian-adjacent frameworks and regional lithostratigraphic units used in the Dolomites, Carnic Alps, Julian Alps, Southern Alps, Sierra Nevada, and parts of the Tethys Ocean margin.
The Ladinian corresponds approximately to the middle part of the Middle Triassic Epoch, with numerical ages established by the International Commission on Stratigraphy and radiometric calibration of volcanic ash beds in stratotypes and key sections such as those in the Dolomites, Gavarnie Basin, and exposed sequences in the Karoo Basin. Its duration is bounded by the ends of the Anisian and onset of the Carnian, and is correlated with magnetostratigraphic chrons and isotope excursions used across lithotectonic domains including the Alps, Himalaya, and western margin of Pangea.
Ladinian deposits display a range of lithologies: carbonate platforms, reefal buildups, marls, shales, and siliciclastic successions. Common facies include dolostone and limestone in shallow Tethys shelves, reefal biomicrites and boundstones in the Dolomites and Adriatic Plate exposures, siliciclastic turbidites and flysch in orogenic basins like the Appenines and Carnic Alps, and evaporites in restricted basins such as those documented in the Western Tethys and peri-Pangean shelves. These lithologies record deposition in environments ranging from high-energy platform margins hosting coralline and sponge assemblages to deeper basin settings preserving pelagic radiolarian-rich cherts and organic-rich black shales seen in the Panthalassa-facing successions.
Ladinian strata contain diverse fossil assemblages used for biostratigraphy and paleoecologic reconstructions, including marine invertebrates such as ammonoids, bivalves, brachiopods, and gastropods documented from sections in the Alps and Himalaya. Conodont zonations, especially species-level turnover events used to define subzones, are critical for Ladinian correlations; notable genera include widely referenced conodont taxa recorded in Mediterranean and North American sections. Reefal communities preserve sponges, scleractinian-like corals, and microbialites in the Dolomites and Adriatic Platform, while vertebrate occurrences include temnospondyl amphibians, nothosaurian and pachypleurosaurian sauropterygians, and early archosauriform tracks and skeletal remains reported from the Monte San Giorgio Lagerstätte, Holzmaden-type deposits, and basin fills in China and North America.
Ladinian successions are widespread across the Tethys Ocean realm, the western margins of Pangea, and peripheral basins in Eurasia, North America, South America, and Africa. Classic exposures occur in the Dolomites, Carnic Alps, Julian Alps, and the Monte San Giorgio area, with correlated sequences in the Zagros, Himalaya, Siberia, and Qinghai-Tibet regions. Correlation leverages ammonoid zonation, conodont biozones, and chemostratigraphic signals to tie Ladinian successions to regional stages such as the Longobardian in the Alpine tradition and to local chronostratigraphic schemes used in the Adriatic Plate and Briançonnais terranes.
Ladinian deposits record the evolution of the Middle Triassic paleogeography during ongoing rifting and drift of continental blocks including fragments of Pangea, development of the Tethys Ocean, and tectonic interactions along the margins of the Adriatic Plate and European Plate. Platform-to-basin gradients preserved in Ladinian successions document synsedimentary faulting, subsidence in foreland and back-arc basins related to the early stages of the Alpine orogeny and the tectonic history of the Neo-Tethys, with implications for paleocirculation and biogeographic provinciality recognized in faunal turnovers and dispersal among the Tethys shelves, western Panthalassa margins, and intra-Pangean basins.
Ladinian carbonate reservoirs, evaporite seals, and siliciclastic source rocks form components of hydrocarbon systems in basins along the former Tethys margins, including fields explored in the Adriatic Sea, northern Italy, and parts of North Africa and Middle East basins. Dolostone and limestone quarried from Ladinian platform sequences supply building stone and aggregate used regionally in the Dolomites and Alpine infrastructures, while evaporitic intervals contribute to mining of sulfates and halite in restricted basins. Paleontological Lagerstätten such as Monte San Giorgio also support geotourism and UNESCO-linked heritage initiatives.
Category:Triassic stages