1.
Cretaceous
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The Cretaceous is a geologic period and system that spans 79 million years from the end of the Jurassic Period 145 million years ago to the beginning of the Paleogene Period 66 Mya. It is the last period of the Mesozoic Era, the Cretaceous Period is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation Kreide. The Cretaceous was a period with a warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites and rudists, during this time, new groups of mammals and birds, as well as flowering plants, appeared. The Cretaceous ended with a mass extinction, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, in which many groups, including non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs. The end of the Cretaceous is defined by the abrupt Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, the name Cretaceous was derived from Latin creta, meaning chalk. The Cretaceous is divided into Early and Late Cretaceous epochs, or Lower and Upper Cretaceous series, in older literature the Cretaceous is sometimes divided into three series, Neocomian, Gallic and Senonian. A subdivision in eleven stages, all originating from European stratigraphy, is now used worldwide, in many parts of the world, alternative local subdivisions are still in use. As with other geologic periods, the rock beds of the Cretaceous are well identified. No great extinction or burst of diversity separates the Cretaceous from the Jurassic and this layer has been dated at 66.043 Ma. A140 Ma age for the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary instead of the usually accepted 145 Ma was proposed in 2014 based on a study of Vaca Muerta Formation in Neuquén Basin. Víctor Ramos, one of the authors of the study proposing the 140 Ma boundary age sees the study as a first step toward formally changing the age in the International Union of Geological Sciences, due to the high sea level there was extensive space for such sedimentation. Because of the young age and great thickness of the system. Chalk is a type characteristic for the Cretaceous. It consists of coccoliths, microscopically small calcite skeletons of coccolithophores, the group is found in England, northern France, the low countries, northern Germany, Denmark and in the subsurface of the southern part of the North Sea. Chalk is not easily consolidated and the Chalk Group still consists of sediments in many places. The group also has other limestones and arenites, among the fossils it contains are sea urchins, belemnites, ammonites and sea reptiles such as Mosasaurus. In southern Europe, the Cretaceous is usually a marine system consisting of competent limestone beds or incompetent marls
2.
Berriasian
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In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age or stage of the Early Cretaceous. It is the oldest, or lowest, subdivision in the entire Cretaceous and it spanned the time between 145.0 ±4.0 Ma and 139.8 ±3.0 Ma. The Berriasian succeeds the Tithonian and precedes the Valanginian, the Berriasian Stage was introduced in scientific literature by Henri Coquand in 1869. It is named after the village of Berrias in the Ardèche department of France, the largely non-marine English Purbeck Formation is in part of Berriasian age. The base of the Berriasian, which is also the base of the Cretaceous system, has traditionally placed at the first appearance of fossils of the ammonite species Berriasella jacobi. But this is a species that has a problematic and geographically limited distribution. A global reference profile for the Berriasian has been under consideration by the International Subcommission on Cretaceous Stratigraphy of IUGS. A range of contender GSSP localities has been studied in detail by the ISCSs Berriasian Working Group including localities as far apart as Mexico, Ukraine, Tunisia, Iraq, several markers have been employed to refine correlations and to work towards defining a base for the Berriasian Stage. These include calcareous nannofossils, such as Nannoconus, calpionellids, ammonites, palynological data and magnetostratigraphy, in June 2016, the Berriasian Working Group voted to adopt Calpionella alpina as the primary marker for the base of the Berriasian Stage. This is just a little below the first appearance of the ammonite species Thurmanniceras pertransiens, a Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press
3.
Jurassic
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The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that spans 56.3 million years from the end of the Triassic Period 201.3 million years ago to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period 145 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the Age of Reptiles, the start of the period is marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. The Jurassic is named after the Jura Mountains within the European Alps, by the beginning of the Jurassic, the supercontinent Pangaea had begun rifting into two landmasses, Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south. This created more coastlines and shifted the continental climate from dry to humid, on land, the fauna transitioned from the Triassic fauna, dominated by both dinosauromorph and crocodylomorph archosaurs, to one dominated by dinosaurs alone. The first birds also appeared during the Jurassic, having evolved from a branch of theropod dinosaurs, other major events include the appearance of the earliest lizards, and the evolution of therian mammals, including primitive placentals. Crocodilians made the transition from a terrestrial to a mode of life. The oceans were inhabited by marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, the chronostratigraphic term Jurassic is directly linked to the Jura Mountains. The name Jura is derived from the Celtic root jor, which was Latinised into juria, the Jurassic period is divided into the Early Jurassic, Middle, and Late Jurassic epochs. The Jurassic System, in stratigraphy, is divided into the Lower Jurassic, Middle, the separation of the term Jurassic into three sections goes back to Leopold von Buch. The Jurassic North Atlantic Ocean was relatively narrow, while the South Atlantic did not open until the following Cretaceous period, the Tethys Sea closed, and the Neotethys basin appeared. Climates were warm, with no evidence of glaciation, as in the Triassic, there was apparently no land over either pole, and no extensive ice caps existed. In contrast, the North American Jurassic record is the poorest of the Mesozoic, the Jurassic was a time of calcite sea geochemistry in which low-magnesium calcite was the primary inorganic marine precipitate of calcium carbonate. Carbonate hardgrounds were thus very common, along with calcitic ooids, calcitic cements, the first of several massive batholiths were emplaced in the northern American cordillera beginning in the mid-Jurassic, marking the Nevadan orogeny. Important Jurassic exposures are found in Russia, India, South America, Japan, Australasia. As the Jurassic proceeded, larger and more groups of dinosaurs like sauropods and ornithopods proliferated in Africa. Middle Jurassic strata are well represented nor well studied in Africa. Late Jurassic strata are also poorly represented apart from the spectacular Tendaguru fauna in Tanzania, the Late Jurassic life of Tendaguru is very similar to that found in western North Americas Morrison Formation. During the Jurassic period, the primary living in the sea were fish
4.
Oxfordian (stage)
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The Oxfordian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the earliest age of the Late Jurassic epoch, or the lowest stage of the Upper Jurassic series. It spans the time between 163.5 ±4 Ma and 157.3 ±4 Ma, the Oxfordian is preceded by the Callovian and is followed by the Kimmeridgian. The Oxfordian stage was introduced into scientific writing by Alexandre Brongniart in 1827, the stage takes its name from the city of Oxford in England. The base of the Oxfordian stage is defined as the point in the record where the ammonite species Brightia thuouxensis first appears. A global reference profile for the base had in 2009 not yet been assigned, the top of the Oxfordian stage is at the first appearance of ammonite species Pictonia baylei. 1829, Tableau théorique de la succession et de la disposition la plus générale on Europa, des terrains et roches, qui composent lécorce de la terre, & Smith, A. G.2004, A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press
5.
Callovian
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In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age or stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 166.1 ±4.0 Ma and 163.5 ±4.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian, the Callovian stage was first described by French palaeontologist Alcide dOrbigny in 1852. Its name derives from the name for Kellaways Bridge, a small hamlet 3 km north-east of Chippenham, Wiltshire. The base of the Callovian is defined as the place in the column where the ammonite genus Kepplerites first appears. A global reference profile for the base had in 2009 not yet been assigned, the top of the Callovian is at the first appearance of ammonite species Brightia thuouxensis. The Callovian is often subdivided into three substages, Lower/Early, Middle and Upper/Late Callovian, between them were extensive areas of continental shelf. Consequently, there are shallow marine Callovian deposits in Russia and from Belarus, through Poland and Germany, into France and eastern Spain, around the former island coasts are frequently, land-derived sediments. These are to be found, for example, in western Scotland, the Louann Salt and the southern Campeche Salt of the Gulf of Mexico are thought to have formed by an embayment of the Pacific Ocean across modern-day Mexico. Members of the Order Ammonitida are known as ammonitic ammonites and they are distinguished primarily by their suture lines. In ammonitic suture patterns, the lobes and saddles are much subdivided, ammonoids of this type are the most important species from a biostratigraphical point of view. This suture type is characteristic of Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonoids but extends all the way to the Permian. 2002, Histoire de la Terre, Dunod, Paris, ISBN 2-10-006631-5, & Smith, A. G.2004, A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press
6.
Toarcian
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The Toarcian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, an age or stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic. It spans the time between 182.7 Ma and 174.1 Ma and it follows the Pliensbachian and is followed by the Aalenian. The Toarcian age began with the Toarcian turnover, the event that sets its fossil faunas apart from the previous Pliensbachian age. The Toarcian takes its name from the city of Thouars, just south of Saumur in the Loire Valley of France, the stage was introduced by French palaeontologist Alcide dOrbigny in 1842, after examining rock strata of this age in a quarry near Thouars. In Europe this period is represented by the part of the Lias. The base of the Toarcian is defined as the place in the record where the ammonite genus Eodactylites first appears. A global reference profile for the base is located at Peniche, the top of the stage is at the first appearance of ammonite genus Leioceras. M. & Smith, A. G.2004, A Geologic Time Scale 2004, terrains oolitiques ou jurassiques, Bertrand, Paris
7.
Hettangian
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The Hettangian is the earliest age or lowest stage of the Jurassic period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 201.3 ±0.2 Ma and 199.3 ±0.3 Ma, the Hettangian follows the Rhaetian and is followed by the Sinemurian. In European stratigraphy the Hettangian is a part of the span in which the Lias was deposited. An example is the British Blue Lias, which has an upper Rhaetian to Sinemurian age, another example is the lower Lias from the Northern Limestone Alps where well-preserved but very rare ammonites, including Alsatites, have been found. The Hettangian was introduced in the literature by Swiss palaeontologist, Eugène Renevier, the stage takes its name from Hettange-Grande, a town in north-eastern France, just south of the border with Luxembourg on the main road from Luxembourg City to Metz. The base of the Hettangian stage is defined as the place in the column where fossils of the ammonite genus Psiloceras first appear. A global reference profile for the base was defined 2010 at the Kuhjoch in the Karwendel in western Austria, the top of the Hettangian stage is at the first appearances of ammonite genera Vermiceras and Metophioceras. During the Hettangian, however, the Neoammonites developed relatively quickly, so even in the middle Hettangian a large number of genera. Triassic-Jurassic extinction event Komlosaurus carbonis Gradstein, F. M, & Smith, A. G.2004, A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press. Renevier, E. Notices géologiques et paléontologiques sur les Alpes Vaudoises, infralias et Zone à Avicula contorta des Alpes Vaudoises Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 8, p. 39-97
8.
Blue Lias
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The Blue Lias is a geologic formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassic times, the Blue Lias is famous for its fossils, especially ammonites. Its age corresponds to the Rhaetian to lower Sinemurian stages of the geologic timescale and it is the lowest of the three divisions of the Lower Jurassic period and, as such, is also given the name Lower Lias. Stratigraphically it can be subdivided into three members, the Wilmcote Limestone, Saltford Shale and Rugby Limestone, the Blue Lias comprises decimetre scale alternations of argillaceous limestone and mudstone. These alternations are caused by short-term climatic variations during the Early Jurassic attributed to orbital forcing and these limestone-mudstone alternations pass up into a clay member formerly known as the Lower Lias Clay now the Charmouth Mudstone. This lithology consists of monotonous mudstones weathering to clay at the surface, sparse thin limestone and nodule bands are seen where the rocks are exposed. The deposition of a clay-rich mudstone member normally indicates deposition in a marine environment. In certain restricted parts of Britain, the lowermost member of the Blue Lias is the Wilmcote Limestone and it lies above the Cotham Member of the Lilstock Formation and beneath the Saltford Shale Member. The Wilmcote Limestone of central England was formerly quarried close to Stratford-upon-Avon, for example at Wilmcote and it is roughly 200 million years old, dating back to the dawn of the Jurassic Period. Much of the Wilmcote Limestone is very fine-grained, blue-grey when fresh, fossils are quite rare, except in the lowest beds. It was formerly used for a variety of purposes, including walling, building, paving, gravestones, cement-making and it is no longer quarried, and most of the old quarries are either infilled or overgrown. Very little life could tolerate the stagnant conditions on the seabed, as a consequence the mud was seldom disturbed, which is why the fine, paper-like layering is preserved. Above the sea bed, the shallower waters supported ammonites, fish and their remains were discovered in the Wilmcote Limestone quarries during the nineteenth century. The Warwickshire Museum houses a collection of fossils and some are on display at the Market Hall Museum in Warwick. The Blue Lias is a prevalent feature of the cliffs around Lyme Regis and Charmouth, on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, where it exists in layers of limestone interspersed with softer clay. It is also notable for its presence in Somerset, particularly around the Polden Hills, Keinton Mandeville and Glastonbury area and it also appears near Whitby in Yorkshire and Southam in Warwickshire where a pub is named after it. There are outcrops along the coast of South Wales, notably that of the Vale of Glamorgan, the type section of the Blue Lias is at Saltford near Bath. Blue Lias is useful as a stone, and as a source of lime for making lime mortar
9.
East Quantoxhead
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Above the village at Black Ball Camp are an Iron Age hill fort and evidence of Bronze Age burials. The parish of East Quantoxhead was part of the Williton and Freemanners Hundred, the village has a manor house, thatched cottages, medieval tithe barn, its own duck pond and mill house dating from 1725. The manor house known, as Court House, has a tower and other parts of the building which date from the 17th century. It has been designated as a grade I listed building, the manor was granted to Ralph Pagnall after the Norman Conquest passing down through generations to the Luttrells. No part of the estate has been sold since its grant around 1070 and is owned by the descendants of the Paganel. This required an act of parliament in the 1920s to enable council houses to be built on land which was not freehold. The village used to have a harbour which brought in limestone for local limekilns. It is thought that it was used for smuggling. At some time before 1725 Perry Hill was the site of a copper mine, the parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security. Conservation matters and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council, the village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of West Somerset, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Williton Rural District. It is also part of the Bridgwater and West Somerset county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the church is dedicated to St Mary, and parts date back to the 14th century. There is a sundial on the south wall. The wooden pulpit dates from 1633, the church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. The village was the birthplace of Sarah Biffen, a Victorian English painter born with no arms, the village was also home to Walter Luttrell a local landowner and veteran of World War II who donated Dunster Castle to the National Trust and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
10.
Dijon
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Dijon is a city in eastern France, capital of the Côte-dOr département and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The earliest archaeological finds within the city limits of Dijon date to the Neolithic period, Dijon later became a Roman settlement named Divio, located on the road from Lyon to Paris. Population,151,576 within the city limits,250,516 for the greater Dijon area, the city has retained varied architectural styles from many of the main periods of the past millennium, including Capetian, Gothic and Renaissance. Many still-inhabited town houses in the central district date from the 18th century. Dijon architecture is distinguished by, among other things, toits bourguignons made of tiles glazed in terracotta, green, yellow and black, Dijon holds an International and Gastronomic Fair every year in autumn. With over 500 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors every year, Dijon is also home, every three years, to the international flower show Florissimo. The historical center of the city has been registered since July 4,2015 as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the earliest archaeological finds within the city limits of Dijon date to the Neolithic period. Dijon later became a Roman settlement called Divio, which may mean sacred fountain, saint Benignus, the citys apocryphal patron saint, is said to have introduced Christianity to the area before being martyred. The Duchy of Burgundy was a key in the transformation of medieval times toward early modern Europe, the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy now houses city hall and a museum of art. In 1513, Swiss and Imperial armies invaded Burgundy and besieged Dijon, the siege was extremely violent, but the town succeeded in resisting the invaders. After long negotiations, Louis II de la Trémoille managed to persuade the Swiss, during the siege, the population called on the Virgin Mary for help and saw the towns successful resistance and the subsequent withdrawal of the invaders as a miracle. For those reasons, in the following the siege the inhabitants of Dijon began to venerate Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir. Although a few areas of the town were destroyed, there are no signs of the siege of 1513 visible today. However, Dijons museum of arts has a large tapestry depicting this episode in the towns history. Dijon is situated at the heart of a plain drained by two small converging rivers, the Suzon, which crosses it mostly underground from north to south, farther south is the côte, or hillside, of vineyards that gives the department its name. Dijon lies 310 km southeast of Paris,190 km northwest of Geneva, the average low of winter is −1 °C, with an average high of 4.2 °C. The average high of summer is 25.3 °C with a low of 14.7 °C. Average normal temperatures are between 2.3 °C and 5.3 °C from November to March, and 17.2 to 19.7 °C from June to August, the climate is oceanic but with a greater temperature range than closer to the Atlantic coastline
11.
Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
12.
Sancerre (wine)
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Sancerre is a French wine Appellation dorigine contrôlée or AOC for wine produced in the area of Sancerre in the eastern part of the Loire valley, southeast of Orléans. Almost all of the lies on the left bank of the Loire. It is well regarded for and primarily associated with Sauvignon blanc, some Pinot noir is also grown, accounting for around 20% of the regions production, making mostly light red wines under the designation of Sancerre Rouge. A rosé style from Pinot noir is produced in a style similar to Beaujolais. White Sancerre was one of the original AOCs awarded in 1936, the AOC area has expanded fourfold over the years, most recently on 18 March 1998. The town lies on an outcrop of the chalk that runs from the White cliffs of Dover down through the Champagne, a series of small valleys cut through the chalk, each with their own soils and microclimate and terroir. In the east are the flints that make minerally, long-lived wines, between the town and Verdigny the soil consists of marl and gravel – les caillottes – producing fruity, well balanced wines. And in the southwest, away from the river towards Menetou-Salon, most – but not all – of the Sauvignon Blancs are unoaked. The area around Sancerre was likely first cultivated by the Romans, perhaps in the 1st century AD, though the exact date is unknown. The foundations of two separate Roman bridges across the Loire can be seen at the village of St-Satur. The region was linked to the Duchy of Burgundy, which may have played a role in the introduction of Pinot noir vines to this area. Sancerres position as a centre, and the large nearby cities of Orléans and Bourges ensured healthy local markets for the Pinot Noir. Demand further increased with the coming of the railway from Paris, in the late 19th century the phylloxera epidemic devastated the area wiping out the majority of the regions vines. While some Pinot noir vines were retained most of the Gamay was lost and they were replanted with Sauvignon Blanc, partly because it grafted better onto the American rootstocks. After World War II, the wines gained a reputation in the Paris bistro scene as an easy drinking white wine equivalent to Beaujolais. Sancerre is part of the vineyards of the Loire Valley, so named not because they are in the center of the Loire. Together with neighboring Pouilly-Fumé, the region makes up the eastern most extension of the Loire Valley, the most dominating geographical influence of Sancerre is the nearby Loire river which flows northward past the city before it curves westward at Orleans and makes its path to the ocean. Located on the west bank of the river, Sancerre nearly faces the neighbouring region of Pouilly-Fumé on the east bank of the river just a few miles upstream towards the south
