Pliensbachian
Early Jurassic age named by Oppel for the Pliensbach area, replacing his predecessor’s non-geographical Liasian.
Language and route: International scientific terminology from German locality name. German locality name place-name Pliensbach → international scientific stage-name Pliensbachian (English); older place-name origin not inferred.
Literal gloss: of/from Pliensbach
The name and its history
Albert Oppel · 1856–1858
- What does the word literally mean?
- ‘of/from Pliensbach’, referring to Pliensbach stream and village in Württemberg, Germany.
- What did the original author mean?
- Oppel’s Pliensbach-Gruppe (1856–1858) replaced d’Orbigny’s more generic “Liasian” with a locality-based name after comparative study of Jurassic sections in England, France and southwest Germany.
- Why was the name needed?
- Existing Lower Jurassic stage names did not coincide with the precision of the ammonite zones that Oppel found useful for transnational correlation.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Oppel cross-compared zonal fossil ranges and lithological sections; he did not merely describe a rock type called “Pliensbachian”.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- The accepted basal GSSP lies at Wine Haven, near Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire. The original Pliensbach section has an unconformity at the older boundary.
Further historical context
The name invokes Pliensbach stream and village in Württemberg, Germany. Oppel’s Pliensbach-Gruppe (1856–1858) replaced d’Orbigny’s more generic “Liasian” with a locality-based name after comparative study of Jurassic sections in England, France and southwest Germany.
Existing Lower Jurassic stage names did not coincide with the precision of the ammonite zones that Oppel found useful for transnational correlation. Oppel cross-compared zonal fossil ranges and lithological sections; he did not merely describe a rock type called “Pliensbachian”.
The accepted basal GSSP lies at Wine Haven, near Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire. The original Pliensbach section has an unconformity at the older boundary.
Editorial qualification
The first printing may use Pliensbach-Gruppe rather than a formally ranked “Pliensbachian stage”. Cite Oppel’s edition for the period 1856–1858.
Related names
Jurassic · Sinemurian · Toarcian · Lias · Ammonite
Sources
- ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart, 2026/06 — Official current ranks and names; ages are subject to revision
- A. Oppel (1856–1858), Die Juraformation Englands, Frankreichs und des südwestlichen Deutschlands, digitised BSB — Digitised original of comparative ammonite zonation and renamed Jurassic subdivisions
- K. N. Page, British Lower Jurassic stratigraphy: an introduction (GCR) — Authoritative history of d’Orbigny, Oppel, Renevier and fossil zonation
- ICS Subcommission on Jurassic Stratigraphy, stage working groups — Individual stage boundary status and GSSP locations