Lutetian
Second Eocene age (48.07–41.03 Ma), named for the fossiliferous Calcaire grossier of the Paris Basin.
Language and route: Scientific French formation from Latin city-name. Latin Lutetia, Roman Paris → historical scientific stage-name Lutetian. This is a geographical/eponymic formation, not a Greek life-comparison compound.
Literal gloss: of Lutetia (Paris)
The name and its history
Albert de Lapparent · 1883
- What does the word literally mean?
- of Lutetia (Paris)
- What did the original author mean?
- De Lapparent associated the Lutetian with the extensive Calcaire grossier (coarse limestone) and its abundant marine fossils in the Paris Basin.
- Why was the name needed?
- Paris Basin Eocene limestone, sand and clay had been given overlapping regional names, so an age division needed to correlate unlike formations.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- The Parisian nummulite-rich carbonate and associated fossil assemblages typified the historic division; there was no single original GSSP.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- The base is now defined at Gorrondatxe, Spain, using a widely correlatable marine section; it is not fixed by the underground Paris quarries.
Further historical context
De Lapparent associated the Lutetian with the extensive Calcaire grossier (coarse limestone) and its abundant marine fossils in the Paris Basin.
Paris Basin Eocene limestone, sand and clay had been given overlapping regional names, so an age division needed to correlate unlike formations.
The Parisian nummulite-rich carbonate and associated fossil assemblages typified the historic division; there was no single original GSSP.
The base is now defined at Gorrondatxe, Spain, using a widely correlatable marine section; it is not fixed by the underground Paris quarries.
Editorial qualification
The Latin name of Paris is secure; do not imply de Lapparent invented Lutetia itself.
Related names
Sources
- International Commission on Stratigraphy, International Chronostratigraphic Chart v2026/06 — Primary authority for present unit names, hierarchy and boundary ages, not first coinages
- Geologic Time Scale 2020, Lutetian historical discussion — Attributes de Lapparent 1883 and the Calcaire grossier of Paris
- Speijer et al. (2020), The Paleogene Period, Geologic Time Scale 2020 — Specialist historical narratives, original regional definitions and modern GSSP revisions