| Capitanian | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 264.28 ± 0.16 – 259.51 ± 0.21Ma | |||||||||||||
 Mollweide map of Earth 260 million years ago, with black outlines depicting countries in their locations | |||||||||||||
| Chronology | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Etymology | |||||||||||||
| Name formality | Formal | ||||||||||||
| Usage information | |||||||||||||
| Celestial body | Earth | ||||||||||||
| Regional usage | Global (ICS) | ||||||||||||
| Time scale(s) used | ICS Time Scale | ||||||||||||
| Definition | |||||||||||||
| Chronological unit | Age | ||||||||||||
| Stratigraphic unit | Stage | ||||||||||||
| Time span formality | Formal | ||||||||||||
| Lower boundary definition | FAD of theConodontJinogondolella postserrata | ||||||||||||
| Lower boundary GSSP | Nipple Hill,Guadalupe Mountains,Texas,USA 31°54′33″N104°47′21″W / 31.9091°N 104.7892°W /31.9091; -104.7892 | ||||||||||||
| Lower GSSP ratified | 2001[2] | ||||||||||||
| Upper boundary definition | FAD of the ConodontClarkina postbitteri postbitteri | ||||||||||||
| Upper boundary GSSP | Penglaitan Section,Laibin,Guangxi,China 23°41′43″N109°19′16″E / 23.6953°N 109.3211°E /23.6953; 109.3211 | ||||||||||||
| Upper GSSP ratified | 2004[3] | ||||||||||||
In thegeologic timescale, theCapitanian is anage orstage of thePermian. It is also the uppermost or latest of three subdivisions of theGuadalupianEpoch orSeries. The Capitanian lasted between 264.28 and 259.51 million years ago. It was preceded by theWordian and followed by theWuchiapingian.[4]
A significant mass extinction event occurred at the end of this stage, which was associated withanoxia andacidification in the oceans and possibly caused by the volcanic eruptions that produced theEmeishan Traps.[5] This extinction event may be related to the much largerPermian–Triassic extinction event that followed about 10 million years later.
The Capitanian Stage was introduced into scientific literature byGeorge Burr Richardson in 1904. The name comes from theCapitan Reef in theGuadalupe Mountains (Texas, United States). The Capitanian was first used as a stratigraphic subdivision of the Guadalupian in 1961,[6] when both names were still only used regionally in the southern US. The stage was added to the internationally usedICS timescale in 2001.[7]
The base of the Capitanian Stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where fossils ofconodont speciesJinogondolella postserrata first appear. The global reference profile for this stratigraphic boundary is located at Nipple Hill in the southern Guadalupe Mountains of Texas.
The top of the Capitanian (the base of the Wuchiapingian and Lopingian series) is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where the conodont speciesClarkina postbitteri postbitteri first appears.
The Capitanian Stage was part of the time in which theZechstein was deposited in Europe.[4] It is coeval with the old European regional Saxonian Stage. In the easternTethys domain, the Capitanian overlaps the regional Murgabian Stage, the Midian Stage and the lower part of the Laibinian Stage. In Russia the Capitanian equals the lower part of the regional Severodvinian Stage.
The Capitanian contains oneammonitebiozone (Timorites) and three conodont biozones:
Larger fusulinid species permit a division in two biozones:
Olson’s Extinction, in the earlyGuadalupian (Roadian,Wordian), led to an extended period of low diversity when worldwide two-thirds of terrestrial vertebrate life was lost.[8] Global diversity rose dramatically in the Capitanian, probably the result of disaster taxa filling empty guilds, only to fall again when the end-Guadalupian event caused a diversity drop in theWuchiapingian.[9]
Carbon isotopes inmarinelimestone from the Capitanian age show an increase in δ13C values. The change in carbon isotopes in the sea water reflectscooling of global climates.[10]
This climatic cooling may have caused the end-Capitanian extinction event among species that lived in warm water, like largerfusulinids (Verbeekninidae), largebivalves (Alatoconchidae) andrugose corals, and Waagenophyllidae.[11]
31°54′33″N104°47′21″W / 31.9091°N 104.7892°W /31.9091; -104.7892
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