Kungurian
The age of the Cisuralian interval (Permian), approximately 283.3–274.4 Ma according to the ICS June 2026 chart.
Language and route: Russian town-name. Russian town-name → international English. Named after Kungur, Perm Krai, Russia.
Literal gloss: from Kungur
The name and its history
A. Stuckenberg (1890 in historical tabulations) · See attributed dates and cited original / standardisation works; first-use priority qualified where noted
- What does the word literally mean?
- From kungur. Immediate scientific language-route: Russian town-name → international English. This is a locality-based or geographical term, not a description of a universal geological event.
- What did the original author mean?
- The regional Uralian evaporite-bearing interval associated with the Kungur area, originally recognised in a regional geological succession.
- Why was the name needed?
- The evaporitic and gypsum-bearing successions near Kungur formed conspicuous regional units in the Russian Permian, requiring a stratigraphic name.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Evaporites, gypsum and associated marine beds furnished lithostratigraphic correlations used in regional schemes.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- These rocks correspond approximately to the level at which Murchison once placed the base of the Permian; modern lower Permian extends far beneath the Kungurian.
Further historical context
*Naming and context.* The evaporitic and gypsum-bearing successions near Kungur formed conspicuous regional units in the Russian Permian, requiring a stratigraphic name.
*Evidence and later scope. Evaporites, gypsum and associated marine beds furnished lithostratigraphic correlations used in regional schemes. These rocks correspond approximately to the level at which Murchison once placed the base* of the Permian; modern lower Permian extends far beneath the Kungurian.
Editorial qualification
Date and original first wording depend on historical tables; the complete nineteenth-century primary text has not been collated here.
Related names
Permian · Cisuralian · Asselian · Sakmarian · Artinskian · Stratigraphy · Lithostratigraphy
Sources
- ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart (June 2026) — Current formal unit, order, rank and numerical age
- Lucas & Shen (2018), Permian chronostratigraphic scale: historical review — Historical synopsis of Artinskian subdivision and regional schemes
- ICS Subcommission on Permian Stratigraphy, Asselian stage — History of downward Permian boundary revision and Russian fossil succession