Terreneuvian
The epoch of the Cambrian interval (Cambrian), approximately 538.8–~521 Ma according to the ICS June 2026 chart.
Language and route: French regional place-name. French regional place-name → international English. Named after French Terre Neuve / historical Terre Neuffve, ‘Newfoundland’.
Literal gloss: named for Newfoundland
The name and its history
Landing, Peng, Babcock, Geyer & Moczydłowska-Vidal; ratified 2007 · See attributed dates and cited original / standardisation works; first-use priority qualified where noted
- What does the word literally mean?
- Named for newfoundland. Immediate scientific language-route: French regional place-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 newly named basal Cambrian series, coextensive at its lower boundary with the already internationally defined Cambrian System and Fortunian Stage.
- Why was the name needed?
- An international label was needed for the earliest Cambrian series after its basal GSSP at Fortune Head had been adopted without a series name. The authors deliberately chose the older French form associated with the Burin Peninsula rather than simply naming the series after an organism.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- The Fortune Head trace-fossil boundary and independent carbon-isotope evidence enabled correlation among widely separated Cambrian successions.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Superseded provisional “Cambrian Series 1”; its global definition is the GSSP, not the geographical extent of historic Newfoundland.
Further historical context
*Naming and context.* An international label was needed for the earliest Cambrian series after its basal GSSP at Fortune Head had been adopted without a series name. The authors deliberately chose the older French form associated with the Burin Peninsula rather than simply naming the series after an organism.
*Evidence and later scope.* The Fortune Head trace-fossil boundary and independent carbon-isotope evidence enabled correlation among widely separated Cambrian successions. Superseded provisional “Cambrian Series 1”; its global definition is the GSSP, not the geographical extent of historic Newfoundland.
Editorial qualification
The French place-name can be translated; this is not a new Greek geological compound.
Related names
Cambrian · Miaolingian · Furongian · Fortunian · Wuliuan · Drumian · Guzhangian · Paibian · Jiangshanian · Fossil
Sources
- ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart (June 2026) — Current formal unit, order, rank and numerical age
- Landing et al. (2007), Global standard names for the lowermost Cambrian series and stage — Original published proposal and ratification for Terreneuvian / Fortunian
- ICS Cambrian Subcommission, ratified GSSPs and naming motives — Formal series/stage ratifications, type localities and defining fossils