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| Tithonian | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tithonian |
| Color | #966FD6 |
| Time start mya | 145.0 |
| Time end mya | 152.1 |
| Unit of | Jurassic |
| Epoch | Late Jurassic |
| Lower boundary def | Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP): base of the Tithonian? |
Tithonian The Tithonian is the latest stage of the Late Jurassic and the uppermost interval of the Jurassic. It succeeds the Kimmeridgian and precedes the Berriasian of the Cretaceous. The stage is widely recognized in global stratigraphic charts used by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, regional surveys such as the United States Geological Survey, and national geological surveys including the British Geological Survey.
The stage is formally positioned as the terminal stage of the Jurassic timescale in charts produced by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, with boundaries correlated to biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic markers used by the International Union of Geological Sciences and regional bodies like the Geological Society of London and the Society for Sedimentary Geology. Its lower boundary is identified above characteristic assemblages found in type sections studied by researchers from institutions such as the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and the Natural History Museum, London, while its upper limit transitions into strata sampled by teams from the Geological Survey of India and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Radiometric and biostratigraphic work by groups at the Geological Survey of Canada, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and the Max Planck Society has placed the Tithonian roughly between ~152.1 and ~145.0 million years ago. Chronostratigraphers use data from zircon U-Pb dating laboratories at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Leicester, and the University of Geneva combined with ammonite zonations established by paleontologists from the Natural History Museum, London, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle to refine the temporal limits. Magnetostratigraphy correlated with records compiled by the Pangea Research Project and the International Ocean Discovery Program supports correlations across sections in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa.
Tithonian sequences include shallow marine limestones, siliciclastic sandstones, marls, and pelagic chalks studied in exposures such as the Solnhofen limestones, the Dorset sections examined by the Natural History Museum, London, and the Seymour Island outcrops investigated by teams from the British Antarctic Survey. Sedimentological analyses by researchers at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Tokyo describe depositional settings ranging from epicontinental shelves in the Paris Basin and the Málaga Basin to deeper basinal facies represented in cores from the North Sea and the Caribbean Plate. Diagenetic and geochemical investigations have been conducted by groups affiliated with the California Institute of Technology, the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and the University of Barcelona.
Fossil assemblages characteristic of the Tithonian include diverse ammonites studied by paleontologists at the Natural History Museum, London, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as well as marine reptiles described by researchers from the University of Oxford, the Museo de La Plata, and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. Iconic localities such as Solnhofen yield arthropods and soft-tissue preservation examined by teams at the Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie and the Bavarian State Collections, while dinosaur faunas from the Morrison Formation and the Argentine Patagonia have been characterized by scientists from the American Museum of Natural History, the Field Museum, and the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. Microfossils including calpionellids and foraminifera have been studied by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre (UK), the Geological Survey of Finland, and the University of Lisbon to refine biostratigraphic zonations.
Regional correlation schemes link Tithonian deposits across the European Platform, the Western Interior Basin of North America, the Neuquén Basin of Argentina, the Sichuan Basin of China, and basins in North Africa through ammonite zonations, sequence stratigraphy, and isotopic frameworks developed by collaborative networks including the International Subcommission on Jurassic Stratigraphy, the European Geosciences Union, and the American Geophysical Union. Key correlation tools include chemostratigraphy used by teams at the University of Leeds and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and biostratigraphic reference sections curated by the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Museo Geológico José Bonaparte.
Tithonian strata host hydrocarbon source rocks and reservoirs exploited in basins surveyed by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the Petroleum Development Oman teams, and firms that collaborate with the Royal Dutch Shell research units. Organic-rich Tithonian shales studied by the United States Geological Survey and the China National Petroleum Corporation are targets for petroleum systems analyses, while limestone units have been quarried for building stone by companies working with the Historic England conservation programs and regional quarry operators in Germany, France, and Italy. Paleontological sites with Tithonian preservation also attract funding and tourism coordinated with the British Museum and regional museums like the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio.
The stage was named in early stratigraphic literature by European geologists working in the 19th century, including contributors associated with the Geological Society of London, the Académie des Sciences (France), and the Prussian Geological Survey. Subsequent refinement of its definition has involved stratigraphers and paleontologists from institutions such as the Natural History Museum, London, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the International Commission on Stratigraphy who have synthesized ammonite zonations, radiometric data, and global correlation plans. Major monographs and stratigraphic syntheses have been published by scholars linked to the Cambridge University Press, the Elsevier publishing group, and the Geological Society of America.
Category:Jurassic stages