Hauterivian
Third Early Cretaceous age, named for Hauterive and now defined globally at a French ammonite-bearing section.
Language and route: Scientific French from French-speaking Swiss place-name. French-speaking Swiss place-name: Hauterive → French stratigraphic Hauterivian (spelling of the scientific formation subsequently anglicised).
Literal gloss: ‘of/from Hauterive’ (geographical; not a Greek compound)
The name and its history
Eugène Renevier · 1874 (1873–1874 tables sometimes catalogued together)
- What does the word literally mean?
- ‘of/from Hauterive’ (geographical; not a Greek compound)
- What did the original author mean?
- Renevier distinguished the Hauterive marls and associated limestones above the older Valanginian type strata as an independent part of the Neocomian.
- Why was the name needed?
- The Swiss Neocomian divisions had been correlated differently from Tethyan ammonite-rich strata; lithology and age were being conflated.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Marl–limestone sequences near Hauterive and regional fossil assemblages supplied his regional comparison rather than a globally agreed boundary.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Its lower global boundary is now at La Charce, France, ratified in 2019 and marked by the appearance of the ammonite genus Acanthodiscus.
Further historical context
Renevier distinguished the Hauterive marls and associated limestones above the older Valanginian type strata as an independent part of the Neocomian.
The Swiss Neocomian divisions had been correlated differently from Tethyan ammonite-rich strata; lithology and age were being conflated.
Marl–limestone sequences near Hauterive and regional fossil assemblages supplied his regional comparison rather than a globally agreed boundary.
Its lower global boundary is now at La Charce, France, ratified in 2019 and marked by the appearance of the ammonite genus Acanthodiscus.
Editorial qualification
Renevier’s published tables straddle 1873–1874 in some bibliographies; verify whether the exact label appears on a dated table.
Related names
Cretaceous · Early Cretaceous · Valanginian · Barremian · 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
- Reboulet et al. (2013), stratigraphy of historic Neocomian around Neuchâtel, Carnets de Géologie — Historical reassessment of Thurmann, Desor, Renevier and the original Swiss successions
- Mutterlose et al. (2021), GSSP for the base of the Hauterivian Stage — Ratified modern Hauterivian boundary and its ammonite datum
- ICS Cretaceous Subcommission (2024), Hauterivian and Albian GSSP ceremonies — Explicitly distinguishes 2019 Hauterivian and 2016 Albian GSSP ratifications