Wuliuan
The age of the Miaolingian interval (Cambrian), approximately ~506.5–~504.5 Ma according to the ICS June 2026 chart.
Language and route: Chinese place-name (romanised). Chinese place-name (romanised) → international English. Named after Wuliu sidehill, near the Wuliu–Zengjiayan GSSP in Guizhou.
Literal gloss: from Wuliu hillside
The name and its history
Zhao et al. (2019); ratified 2018 · See attributed dates and cited original / standardisation works; first-use priority qualified where noted
- What does the word literally mean?
- From wuliu hillside. Immediate scientific language-route: Chinese place-name (romanised) → 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 lowest stage of the third Cambrian series, defined at the Wuliu–Zengjiayan reference section.
- Why was the name needed?
- The first stage of the Miaolingian was named for a small hill crossed by the selected reference section after proposals for an internationally useful Cambrian Stage 5 boundary.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- The base is fixed at an Oryctocephalus indicus first-appearance horizon in the Kaili Formation, with supporting chemical and regional fossil evidence.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Replaced “Cambrian Stage 5”; the Chinese topographical name survives while its meaning as a global chronostratigraphic unit is independent of the Chinese outcrop.
Further historical context
*Naming and context.* The first stage of the Miaolingian was named for a small hill crossed by the selected reference section after proposals for an internationally useful Cambrian Stage 5 boundary.
*Evidence and later scope. The base is fixed at an Oryctocephalus indicus* first-appearance horizon in the Kaili Formation, with supporting chemical and regional fossil evidence. Replaced “Cambrian Stage 5”; the Chinese topographical name survives while its meaning as a global chronostratigraphic unit is independent of the Chinese outcrop.
Editorial qualification
Deeper Chinese literal interpretation of Wuliu not claimed.
Related names
Cambrian · Miaolingian · Drumian · Guzhangian · Fossil
Sources
- ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart (June 2026) — Current formal unit, order, rank and numerical age
- Zhao et al. (2019), Miaolingian / Wuliuan GSSP, Episodes — Original formal boundary paper and etymological localities
- ICS Cambrian Subcommission, ratified GSSPs and naming motives — Formal series/stage ratifications, type localities and defining fossils