View source for Earth:Danian

{{short description|First age of the Paleocene Epoch}}
{{Infobox geologic timespan
| name                         = Danian
| color                        = Danian
| time_start                   = 66.0
| time_end                     = 61.6
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<!--Chronology-->  
| timeline                     = Paleogene
| formerly_part_of             = [[Earth:Tertiary|Tertiary]] [[Earth:Geological period|Period]]/[[Earth:System (stratigraphy)|System]]
| partially_contained_in       =
| partially_contains           =
<!--Etymology-->
| name_formality               = Formal
| name_accept_date             =
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<!--Usage Information--> 
| celestial_body               = earth
| usage                        = Global ([[Organization:International Commission on Stratigraphy|ICS]])
| timescales_used              = ICS Time Scale
| formerly_used_by             =
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<!--Definition-->
| chrono_unit                  = Age
| strat_unit                   = Stage
| proposed_by                  =
| type_section                 =
| timespan_formality           = Formal
| lower_boundary_def           = [[Chemistry:Iridium|Iridium]] enriched layer associated with a major meteorite impact and subsequent K–Pg extinction event<ref name="Molina 2006">{{cite journal|last1=Molina |first1=Eustoquio |last2=Alegret |first2=Laia |last3=Arenillas |first3=Ignacio |author4=José A. Arz |last5=Gallala |first5=Njoud |last6=Hardenbol |first6=Jan |author7=Katharina von Salis |last8=Steurbaut |first8=Etienne |last9=Vandenberghe |first9=Noel |author10=Dalila Zaghibib-Turki |title=The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Danian Stage (Paleocene, Paleogene, "Tertiary", Cenozoic) at El Kef, Tunisia - Original definition and revision |journal=Episodes |year=2006 |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=263–278 |doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2006/v29i4/004 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
| lower_gssp_location          = El Kef Section, El Kef, Tunisia
| lower_gssp_coords            = {{Coord|36.1537|N|8.6486|E|display=inline}}<ref name="Molina 2006"/>
| lower_gssp_accept_date       = 1991<ref name="Molina 2006"/>
| upper_boundary_def           = Onset of sea-level drop and carbon isotope shift
| upper_gssp_location          = Zumaia Section, Basque Country, {{wipe|Spain}}
| upper_gssp_coords            = {{Coord|43.2992|N|2.2610|W|display=inline}}
| upper_gssp_accept_date       = 2008<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schmitz|first=B. |author2=Pujalte, V. |author3=Molina, E. |author4=Monechi, S. |author5=Orue-Etxebarria, X. |author6=Speijer, R. P. |author7=Alegret, L. |author8=Apellaniz, E. |author9=Arenillas, I. |author10=Aubry, M.-P. |author11=Baceta, J.-I. |author12=Berggren, W. A. |author13=Bernaola, G. |author14=Caballero, F. |author15=Clemmensen, A. |author16=Dinarès-Turell, J. |author17=Dupuis, C. |author18=Heilmann-Clausen, C. |author19=Orús, A. H. |author20=Knox, R. |author21=Martín-Rubio, M. |author22=Ortiz, S. |author23=Payros, A. |author24=Petrizzo, M. R. |author25=von Salis, K. |author26=Sprong, J. |author27=Steurbaut, E. |author28=Thomsen, E. |title=The global Stratotype Sections and Points for the bases of the Selandian (Middle Paleocene) and Thanetian (Upper Paleocene Paleocene) stages at Zumaia, Spain|journal=Episodes|year=2011|volume=34|issue=4|pages=220–243|doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2011/v34i4/002 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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}}

The '''Danian''' is the oldest [[Earth:Age (geology)|age]] or lowest [[Physics:Stage (stratigraphy)|stage]] of the [[Earth:Paleocene|Paleocene]] Epoch or [[Earth:Series (stratigraphy)|Series]], of the [[Earth:Paleogene|Paleogene]] Period or [[Earth:System (stratigraphy)|System]], and of the [[Earth:Cenozoic|Cenozoic]] Era or [[Earth:Erathem|Erathem]]. The beginning of the Danian (and the end of the preceding [[Earth:Maastrichtian|Maastrichtian]]) is at the [[Earth:Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]] {{ma|Danian|Ma}}. The age ended {{ma|Selandian|Ma}}, being followed by the [[Earth:Selandian|Selandian]].<ref>[http://www.stratigraphy.org/index.php/ics-chart-timescale International Commission on Stratigraphy 2017]</ref>

==Stratigraphic definitions==
[[File:Main floristic types from the Danian - journal.pone.0052455.g007-right.png|thumb|left|Artist impression of what a [[Place:Patagonia|Patagonia]]n landscape might have looked like in the Danian.]] 
The Danian was introduced in scientific literature by {{wipe|Germany}}-{{wipe|Switzerland}} geologist Pierre Jean Édouard Desor in 1847 following a study of fossils found in France and Denmark.<ref name="Denstoredanske">[http://denstoredanske.dk/It,_teknik_og_naturvidenskab/Geologi_og_kartografi/Geologiske_perioder/Danien Danien], Den Store Danske Encyklopædi</ref> He identified this stage in deposits from Faxe and Møns Klint and named it after the [[Social:Latin|Latin]] name for {{wipe|Denmark}}.<ref name="Denstoredanske"/> The Montian Stage from Belgian stratigraphy (named after the city of Mons) is now known to be roughly equivalent to the Upper Danian and is considered a junior synonym and is no longer in use.<ref name="De Geyter et al 2006">{{cite journal | url=http://popups.ulg.ac.be/1374-8505/index.php?id=1219&file=1 | title=Disused Paleogene regional stages from Belgium: Montian, Heersian, Landenian, Paniselian, Bruxellian, Laekenian, Ledian, Wemmelian and Tongrian |author1=De Geyter G. |author2=De Man E. |author3=Herman J. |author4=Jacobs P. |author5=Moorkens T. |author6=Steurbat E. |author7=Vandenberghe N. | journal=Geologica Belgica | year=2006 | volume=9 | issue=1–2 | pages=203–213}}</ref>

The base of the Danian is defined at the [[Chemistry:Iridium anomaly|iridium anomaly]] which characterized the [[Earth:Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary|Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary]] (K–T boundary) in stratigraphic sections worldwide. A section in El Kef, Tunisia was appointed as a reference profile (GSSP) for this important boundary.<ref>The GSSP for the Danian Stage was established by Molina ''et al.'' (2006)</ref> The Danian is the oldest age of the Paleocene, defined at its base by the K-Pg boundary. It is very important because the readily recognized iridium anomaly and primitive Danian planktonic foraminifers define the base of the Danian. Danian foraminiferans repopulated the Paleocene seas after the Cretaceous mass extinction (Olsson et al., 1996).  The first replacement foraminiferan of the Paleogene is the ''Globigerina eugubina,'' which is used to define the base of the Danian Age (Stainforth et al., 1975). This foraminiferan replaced the Cretaceous genus ''Globotruncana''.

The top of the Danian Stage (the base of the Selandian) is close to the boundary between [[Earth:Biozone|biozone]]s NP4 and NP5 from marine [[Earth:Biostratigraphy|biostratigraphy]]. It is slightly after the first appearances of many new species of the calcareous nanoplankton genus ''Fasciculithus'' (''F. ulii'', ''F. billii'', ''F. janii'', ''F. involutus'', ''F. tympaniformis'' and ''F. pileatus'') and close to the first appearance of calcareous nanoplankton species ''Neochiastozygus perfectus''.

The Danian Stage overlaps the [[Biology:Puercan|Puercan]] and [[Biology:Torrejonian|Torrejonian]] North American land mammal ages and the Shanghuan and lowest part of the Nongshanian Asian land mammal ages. It includes the oldest [[Earth:Mammal Paleogene zones|Mammal Paleogene zones]], all included in the 1 - 5 group.<ref name="MP">{{cite web|url=http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=viewTimeScale&scale_no=125|title=Mammal Paleogene zones|last=Alroy|first=John|website=Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database|access-date=17 December 2021}}</ref>

==Paleontology==
Though the non-avian [[Biology:Dinosaur|dinosaur]]s were gone, the mammals and other land animals remained small, most not even bigger than a sheep; however; a few (like ''Ankalagon saurognathus)'' reached the size of a medium-sized bear. Numerous lineages of modern birds also survived, particularly in the area around {{wipe|Australia}} but also elsewhere, e.g. ''[[Biology:Scaniornis|Scaniornis]]'' of the North Sea region. The oceans remained much the same as the [[Earth:Late Cretaceous|Late Cretaceous]] seas, only that there was less life, few remaining marine [[Biology:Reptile|reptile]]s (mostly [[Biology:Turtle|turtle]]s, [[Biology:Choristodera|choristodera]] and [[Biology:Crocodile|crocodile]]s), and other lesser-known animals.

There are controversial reports of ammonites (mainly of the [[Biology:Scaphitidae|Scaphitidae]] class in Turkmenistan)<ref>{{cite web |title=†family Scaphitidae Gill 1871 (ammonite) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=95940&is_real_user=1 |website=PBDB}}</ref> still being around at this time, although they did not survive the Danian age.<ref>Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods by Danna Staaf</ref>

==Latest Danian Event==
Close to the end of the Danian, around 62.2 Ma, occurred a hyperthermal, similar to but smaller in magnitude compared to the more famous Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sprong |first1=M. |last2=Youssef |first2=J. A. |last3=Bornemann |first3=André |last4=Schulte |first4=P. |last5=Steurbaut |first5=E. |last6=Stassen |first6=P. |last7=Kouwenhoven |first7=T. J. |last8=Speijer |first8=Robert P. |date=September 2011 |title=A multi-proxy record of the Latest Danian Event at Gebel Qreiya, Eastern Desert, Egypt |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/34511141.pdf |journal=Journal of Micropalaeontology |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=167–182 |doi=10.1144/0262-821X10-023 |bibcode=2011JMicP..30..167S |s2cid=55038043 |access-date=26 November 2022 |archive-date=28 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628093332/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/34511141.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> known as the Latest Danian Event (LDE).<ref name="LatestDanianEvent">{{cite journal |last1=Jehle |first1=Sofie |last2=Bornemann |first2=André |last3=Lägel |first3=Anna Friederike |last4=Deprez |first4=Arne |last5=Speijer |first5=Robert P. |date=1 July 2019 |title=Paleoceanographic changes across the Latest Danian Event in the South Atlantic Ocean and planktic foraminiferal response |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/637634/2/Jehle_et_al_2019%28LDE-Atlantic-Last-upload_Palaeo3%29.pdf |journal=[[Earth:Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=525 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.03.024 |bibcode=2019PPP...525....1J |s2cid=134929774 |access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref> The event, which took place over a 170-230 kyr time interval,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jehle |first1=Sofie |last2=Bornemann |first2=André |last3=Deprez |first3=Arne |last4=Speijer |first4=Robert P. |date=25 November 2015 |title=The Impact of the Latest Danian Event on Planktic Foraminiferal Faunas at ODP Site 1210 (Shatsky Rise, Pacific Ocean) |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=11 |pages=e0141644 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0141644 |pmid=26606656 |pmc=4659543 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1041644J |doi-access=free }}</ref> is evidenced in the geologic record by two negative carbon isotope excursions and is believed to have led to a {{convert|2|–|3|C-change}} warming of both deep and surface seawater.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bornemann |first1=André |last2=Jehle |first2=Sofie |last3=Lägel |first3=Friederike |last4=Deprez |first4=Arne |last5=Petrizzo |first5=Maria Rose |last6=Speijer |first6=Robert P. |date=22 February 2021 |title=Planktic foraminiferal response to an early Paleocene transient warming event and biostratigraphic implications |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00531-020-01972-z? |journal=International Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=583–594 |doi=10.1007/s00531-020-01972-z |bibcode=2021IJEaS.110..583B |s2cid=231981891 |access-date=26 November 2022|hdl=2434/817466 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> This hyperthermal also led to a shallowing of the oceanic lysocline, as evidenced by the significant decrease in calcium carbonate preservation.<ref name="LatestDanianEvent" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Literature===
*{{aut|Desor, P.J.É.}}; '''1847''': ''Sur le terrain Danien, nouvel étage de la craie'', Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, série 2, 3, pp.&nbsp;179–181, {{ISSN|0037-9409}}. {{in lang|fr}}
*{{aut|Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.}}; '''2004''': ''A Geologic Time Scale 2004'', {{wipe|Cambridge University Press}}.
*{{aut|Molina, E.; Alegret, L.; Arenillas, I.; Arz, J.A.; Gallala, N.; Hardenbol, J.; Salis, K. von; Steurbaut, E.; Vandenberghe, N. & Zaghbib-Turki, D.}}; '''2006''': ''The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Danian Stage (Paleocene, Paleogene, "Tertiary", Cenozoic) at El Kef, Tunisia: original definition and revision'', Episodes '''29(4)''', pp.&nbsp;263–273, {{ISSN|0705-3797}}.
*{{aut|Olsson, R.K., Liu, C., and Van Fossen, M.}}; '''1996''':''The Cretaceous-Tertiary catastrophe event at Millers Ferry, Alabama'' in Ryder, G., Fastovsky, D., and Gartner, S., eds., The Cretaceous-Tertiary Event and other catastrophes in Earth history: Geological Society of America Special Paper 307, pp.&nbsp;263–277.
*{{aut|Stainforth, R.M., Lamb, J.L., Lutherbacher H., Beard, J.H., and Jeffords, R.M.}}; '''1975''': ''Cenozoic planktonic foraminifera zonation and characteristics of index forms'': The University of Kansas Paleontological Institute, Article 62, 425 p.

==External links==
*[http://www.stratigraphy.org/bak/geowhen/stages/Danian.html GeoWhen Database – Danian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824134222/http://www.stratigraphy.org/bak/geowhen/stages/Danian.html |date=2010-08-24 }}
*[http://stratigraphy.science.purdue.edu/charts/Timeslices/2_Paleogene.pdf Paleogene timescale (2008)], at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060518101848/http://norges.uio.no/timescale/Fig19.1_Pal_bio_colB.pdf Stratigraphic chart of the Paleogene (2006)], at the website of Norges Network of offshore records of geology and stratigraphy

{{Geological history|p|c}}


[[Category:Paleocene geochronology]]
[[Category:Danian first appearances| ]]

{{Sourceattribution|Danian}}