The geological timescale: Yanks VS BritsThe geological timescale is broken down into geochronologic

The geological timescale: Yanks VS BritsThe geological timescale is broken down into geochronologic segments, time periods based upon the continuity of rock strata and the relative time relationship between these strata. But what concerns us today is – where did the names of these time periods come from and who named more? Brits or Yanks?I am a Brit and a strong believer that sulphur should be spelt with a ‘ph’ so the recent change of foetus to the American fetus has duly irked me. But it got me thinking; how many of the geological Eons, Eras and Periods have been named by Brits and how many by Americans? America beats us on size, population, wealth and any Olympic sport which doesn’t require sitting down but do they beat us on Geology?The Eons are all named after Greek words. We start with the Hadean (4.6 - 4Ga) named after Hades by American Preston Cloud. Britain 0 – 1 America.This was followed by the Archean or Acheanozoic (Ancient or Ancient Life 4 – 2.5Ga), Proterozoic (Earlier Life 2500 - 541ma) and finally Phanaerozoic (Visible life 541ma – present day). Not one scientist has been accredited for naming these Eons so the score remains Britain 0 – 1 America.The oldest verified period is also the last before the beginning of the Phanerozoic and start of the Cambrian explosion. The Ediacaran (645 - 542ma) was named after the Ediacara Hills in Australia and was first proposed to be a period by Martin Glaessner (Austro-Hungarian who escaped the persecution of the Jews by working for the soon to be BP). No points awardedThe Phanaerozoic Eon is split up into a number of Eras which follow a similar trend, Palaeozoic (Old life 541 – 252ma) (Brit John Phillips 1841), Mesozoic (252 – 66ma)(Brit John Phillips 1841) and finally Cenozoic (New Life 66ma – Present day). This leaves the score at Britain 2 – 1 AmericaThe Eras in turn are split up into Periods and the names start to get a bit more interesting.The Cambrian (542- 488.3ma) – Named in 1835 after the Latin name for Wales (Cambria) by a brit called Adam Sedgwick. Britain 3 –1 AmericaThe Ordovician (488.3 – 443.7ma) – Named by Brit Charles Lapworth in 1879 after a tribe of Welsh Celts (the Ordovices) that inhabited Britain before the Romans. Britain 4 – 1 America.The Silurian (443.7ma – 420ma) – Named by Scot (still a Brit) Roderick Murchison in 1835 after another tribe of Welsh Celts (the Silures, famous for Caratacus) that resisted Roman rule for 30 years. Britain 5 – 1 America.The Devonian (420 – 359ma) – Named after a county in western England by William Buckland and Roderick Murchison (both Brits). Britain 6 – 1 AmericaThe Carboniferous (359 – 299ma) – Named for the large coal bearing seams found associated with the time period. It is generally agreed that British geologists were the ones to name this period. Britain 7 – 1 America.The Permian (299ma – 252ma) – Named in 1841 by the now Sir Roderick Murchinson after the ancient kingdom of Permia (a medieval state that existed in what is now Russia). Britain 8 – America 1.The Triassic (252 – 201ma) – Named in 1834 by German Friedrich von Alberti after the 3 rock units that make up the period in Germany; the Bundsandstein, Muschelkalk and Keuper. Nil points awarded.The Jurassic (201 – 145ma) – Named after the Jura Mountains by either (differing sources give different names) Alexandre Brongniart (French) or Leopold von Buch (German). Nil Points.The Cretaceous (201 – 66ma) – Named after the Latin word for chalk ‘Creta’ and defined in 1822 by Jean d’Omalius d’Halloy (Belgian). Nil points.The Paleogene (66 – 23ma) named after the Greek for ‘old born’ and The Neogene (23ma – 5ma) named after the Greek ‘new born’. Once again there is no record of a single person or body that named them. Nil points.This takes us to a final score of Britain 8 - 1 America and concludes that, at least to begin with, geology was a very British passtime. Even if a lot of the names were pilfered from the greeks!More importantly it gave me an opportunity to geek out over the geological column which I hope you enjoyed!WatsonReferences: United States Geological Survey:http://www.geosociety.org/science/timescale/British Geological Survey:http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/time/timechart/home.htmlInternational Commission on Stratigraphy: http://www.stratigraphy.org/Further Reading: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.phpImage Credit: USGS -- source link

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