Santonian

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to a specific age within the Late Cretaceous period characterized by distinct fossil assemblages; pertaining to geological strata named after this age; describing fossils or sediments formed during this time
2. Connected to a distinct stratigraphic stage in the Upper Cretaceous known for particular marine and terrestrial fossils; referring to rock layers deposited in this timeframe; identifying paleontological or geological material from this era
3. Associated with a defined geological interval in the Late Cretaceous marked by recognizable fauna and sediment deposits; indicative of sedimentary formations from this stage; related to paleontology or stratigraphy of the period

Etymology: Few geological time divisions carry the name of a Gaulish tribe, but this one does. The Santonian stage, a span of the Late Cretaceous, takes its name from Saintes, a town in western France. The Romans called the town Mediolanum Santonum, "the middle place of the Santones," after the Santones, the Gaulish people who lived there before Roman conquest. The French geologists who studied the chalk exposed in the surrounding region gave the stage its name, so the rock layers are named after the place, and the place after the people. The Latin "Santones" reflects a Gaulish tribal name, and the English adjective adds the suffix "-ian," which here simply marks an association with the place. The word is used both as a noun for the stage itself and as an adjective for rocks and fossils from that time.

Synonyms: Cretaceous, Late Cretaceous, geological stage, stratigraphic stage, fossiliferous stage