Berriasian
First Cretaceous age, named for Berrias in Ardèche; the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary remains a global correlation problem.
Language and route: Scientific French from French locality. French locality: Berrias → French stratigraphic Berriasian (spelling of the scientific formation subsequently anglicised).
Literal gloss: ‘of/from Berrias’ (geographical; not a Greek compound)
The name and its history
Henri Coquand · 1871 (reported; some surveys cite 1876)
- What does the word literally mean?
- ‘of/from Berrias’ (geographical; not a Greek compound)
- What did the original author mean?
- Coquand applied the name to lower-Cretaceous fossil-bearing strata in the Berrias area, including a fauna long discussed near the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition.
- Why was the name needed?
- Older Portlandian, Neocomian and Valanginian classifications overlapped across Alpine and Jura facies, making the first beds above the Jurassic contentious.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Local ammonites and other marine fossils were compared among southern French sections; the earliest Berriasian was not originally fixed by a single global point.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Now the first Cretaceous age; its basal global boundary remains a distinctive international correlation problem, not a definition by the village of Berrias.
Further historical context
Coquand applied the name to lower-Cretaceous fossil-bearing strata in the Berrias area, including a fauna long discussed near the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition.
Older Portlandian, Neocomian and Valanginian classifications overlapped across Alpine and Jura facies, making the first beds above the Jurassic contentious.
Local ammonites and other marine fossils were compared among southern French sections; the earliest Berriasian was not originally fixed by a single global point.
Now the first Cretaceous age; its basal global boundary remains a distinctive international correlation problem, not a definition by the village of Berrias.
Editorial qualification
Reported priority dates differ across historical works; verify Coquand’s actual 1871 page before treating the year as proven.
Related names
Cretaceous · Early Cretaceous · Tithonian · Valanginian · Neocomian
Sources
- International Commission on Stratigraphy, International Chronostratigraphic Chart v2026/06 — Controlling nomenclature, rank and sequence of internationally recognised ages; not a historical-coinage source
- Mouty (2002), Berriasian–Valanginian boundary in the Jura platform, Persée — Reviews Coquand’s Berriasian and Desor’s older Valanginian concept
- Wimbledon et al. (2020), proposal for the Berriasian base, historical discussion — Discusses competing Neocomian interpretations, publication dates and boundary disagreement
- ICS Subcommission on Cretaceous Stratigraphy, GSSPs and Working Groups — Distinguishes modern international boundary work from original local names