Cambrian (geology)

From Citizendium
Revision as of 17:59, 22 April 2007 by imported>Thomas Simmons
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Cambrian is both a system of strata and a period of time. The name refers to a chronostatrigraphic or a geochronological units of geological measure. The Cambrian is roughly the period between 543 to 490 million years ago in the Paleozoic Era of the Phanerozoic Eon. It encompasses four chronostatrigraphic series and ten epochs and correspondingly, four geochronological stages and ten ages.

Erathem/Era System/Period Series/Epoch Stage/Age
Paleozoic Cambrian Furongian Unnamed
Unnamed
Paibian
Unnamed Unnamed
Drumian
Unnamed
Unnamed Unnamed
Unnamed
Unnamed Unnamed
Unnamed

The name is derived from Cambria, the Roman word for Wales, the area where the rocks of the Cambrian was first studied.[1]

Sources

Proposed Global Standard Stratotype-Section and Point for the Paibian Stage and Furongian Series (Upper Cambrian) International Subcommission on Cambrian Stratigraphy, International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).

References

  1. Glossary Illinois State Geological Survey