Aptian

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title: "Aptian" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["aptian", "early-cretaceous", "geological-ages", "cretaceous-geochronology"] description: "Fifth age of the Early Cretaceous" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptian" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Fifth age of the Early Cretaceous ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox geologic timespan"]

Field	Value
name	Aptian
color	Aptian
time_start	121.4
time_start_uncertainty	0.6
time_end	113.2
time_end_uncertainty	0.3
timeline	Cretaceous
name_formality	Formal
celestial_body	earth
usage	Global (ICS)
timescales_used	ICS Time Scale
chrono_unit	Age
strat_unit	Stage
timespan_formality	Formal
lower_boundary_def	Not formally defined
lower_gssp_candidates	Gorgo a Cerbara, Piobbico, Central Apennines, Italy
upper_boundary_def	FAD of the Planktonic Foraminifer Microhedbergella renilaevis
upper_gssp_location	Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France
upper_gssp_coords
upper_gssp_accept_date	April 2016
::

| name = Aptian | color = Aptian | time_start = 121.4 | time_start_uncertainty = 0.6 | time_end = 113.2 | time_end_uncertainty = 0.3 | image_map = | caption_map = | image_outcrop = | caption_outcrop = | image_art = | caption_art = | timeline = Cretaceous | formerly_part_of = | partially_contained_in = | partially_contains = | name_formality = Formal | name_accept_date = | alternate_spellings = | synonym1 = | synonym1_coined = | synonym2 = | synonym2_coined = | synonym3 = | synonym3_coined = | nicknames = | former_names = | proposed_names = | celestial_body = earth | usage = Global (ICS) | timescales_used = ICS Time Scale | formerly_used_by = | not_used_by = | chrono_unit = Age | strat_unit = Stage | proposed_by = | type_section = | timespan_formality = Formal | lower_boundary_def = Not formally defined | lower_def_candidates =

• Base of magnetic polarity chronozone M0r.
• Near FAD of the Ammonite Paradeshayesites oglanlensis | lower_gssp_candidates = Gorgo a Cerbara, Piobbico, Central Apennines, Italy | upper_boundary_def = FAD of the Planktonic Foraminifer Microhedbergella renilaevis | upper_gssp_location = Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France | upper_gssp_coords =
  | upper_gssp_accept_date = April 2016 | o2 = | co2 = | temp = | sea_level =

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Aptian_-_Acrocanthosaurus.png" caption="Palaeogeography of the Earth in Aptian."] ::

The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 0.6 Ma to 113.2 ± 0.3 Ma (million years ago), approximately. The Aptian succeeds the Barremian and precedes the Albian, all part of the Lower/Early Cretaceous.

The Aptian partly overlaps the upper part of the Western European Urgonian Stage.

The Selli Event, also known as OAE1a, was one of two oceanic anoxic events in the Cretaceous Period, which occurred around 120 Ma and lasted approximately 1 to 1.3 million years, being marked by enhanced silicate weathering, as well as ocean acidification. The Aptian extinction was a minor extinction event hypothesized to have occurred around 116 to 117 Ma.

Stratigraphic definitions

The Aptian was named after the small city of Apt in the Provence region of France, which is also known for its crystallized fruits. The original type locality is in the vicinity of Apt. The Aptian was introduced in scientific literature by French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny in 1840.

The base of the Aptian Stage is laid at magnetic anomaly M0r. A global reference profile for the base (a GSSP) had in 2009 not yet been appointed. The top of the Aptian (the base of the Albian) is at the first appearance of coccolithophore species Praediscosphaera columnata in the stratigraphic record.

Subdivision

In the Tethys domain, the Aptian contains eight ammonite biozones:

• zone of Hypacanthoplites jacobi
• zone of Nolaniceras nolani
• zone of Parahoplites melchioris
• zone of Epicheloniceras subnodosocostatum
• zone of Dufrenoyia furcata
• zone of Deshayesites deshayesi
• zone of Deshayesites weissi
• zone of Deshayesites oglanlensis

Sometimes the Aptian is subdivided in three substages or subages: Bedoulian (early or lower), Gargasian (middle) and Clansayesian (late or upper). In modern formal chronostratigraphy the Aptian is divided into Lower and Upper sub-stages. The Lower Aptian is almost equivalent to the Bedoulian (without the Dufrenoyia furcata Zone), and it includes the 3 "Deshayesites" ammonite zones. The Upper Aptian spans the Gargasian and Clansayesian intervals, it includes the furcata to jacobi Tethys ammonite zones (Moullade et al. 2011 ).

Lithostratigraphic units

Examples of rock units formed during the Aptian are: Antlers Formation, Cedar Mountain Formation, Cloverly Formation, Elrhaz Formation, Jiufotang Formation, Little Atherfield, Mazong Shan, Potomac Formation, Santana Formation, Twin Mountains Formation, Xinminbao Group and Yixian Formation.

Climate

A cold episode occurred at the start of the Aptian, as evidenced by the migration of the dinoflagellates Cepadinium variabilis and Pseudoceratium nohrhansenii into lower latitudes. A decline in global pCO2 occurred from about 1,000 ppm to 800 ppm from the start of the Aptian to the C10 positive carbon isotope excursion. During the late Aptian, pCO2 was between 515 ± 79 and 1029.8 ± 158 ppm as evidenced by the stomatal density of Pseudofrenelopsis capillata.

References

Notes

Literature

• ; 2004: A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press.
• ; 1842: Paléontologie française: Terrains crétacés, vol. ii.

References

1. (2017). "Some key Lower Cretaceous sites in Drôme (SE France)".
2. (2017). "The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Albian Stage, of the Cretaceous, the Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France". Episodes.
3. Gradstein ''et al.'' (2004)
4. (1 September 2022). "Latitude-dependant climate changes across the Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a". [[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]].
5. (15 July 2008). "Toward an orbital chronology for the early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE1a, ~ 120 Ma)". [[Earth and Planetary Science Letters]].
6. Leckie. (2002). "Oceanic anoxic events and plankton evolution: Biotic response to tectonic forcing during the mid-Cretaceous". [[Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology]].
7. (15 December 2015). "Lithium-isotope evidence for enhanced silicate weathering during OAE 1a (Early Aptian Selli event)". [[Earth and Planetary Science Letters]].
8. (23 July 2010). "Calcareous Nannoplankton Response to Surface-Water Acidification Around Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a". [[Science (journal).
9. Archangelsky, Sergio. "[http://bomax.botany.pl/cgi-bin/pubs/data/article_pdf?id=564 The Ticó Flora (Patagonia) and the Aptian Extinction Event]." ''Acta Paleobotanica'' 41(2), 2001, pp. 115-22.
10. (2011). "The Aptian Stage: Back to fundamentals". Episodes.
11. (January 2022). "Low-latitude ?upper Barremian–lower Aptian palynoflora and paleovegetation of the Biyadh Formation (Arabian Plate, eastern margin of northern Gondwana): evidence for a possible cold snap". [[Cretaceous Research]].
12. (September–December 2015). "The emerging terrestrial record of Aptian-Albian global change". [[Cretaceous Research]].
13. (June 2023). "Stomatal numbers of Pseudofrenelopsis capillata (Cheirolepidiaceae, Coniferales) in the peri-equatorial late Aptian Crato Formation (Santana group, Araripe Basin, Brazil) and their paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental significance". [[Journal of South American Earth Sciences]].

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