In the geologic timescale, the Artinskian is an age or stage of the Permian

Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...

. It is a subdivision of the Cisuralian epoch

Epoch (geology)

An epoch is a subdivision of the geologic timescale based on rock layering. In order, the higher subdivisions are periods, eras and eons. We are currently living in the Holocene epoch...

 or series

Series (stratigraphy)

Series are subdivisions of rock layers made based on the age of the rock and corresponding to the dating system unit called an epoch, both being formally defined international conventions of the geological timescale. A series is therefore a sequence of rock depositions defining a...

. The Artinskian lasted between 284.4 ± 0.7 and 275.6 ± 0.7 million years ago (Ma). It was preceded by the Sakmarian

Sakmarian

In the geologic timescale, the Sakmarian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is a subdivision of the Cisuralian epoch or series. The Sakmarian lasted between 294.6 ± 0.8 and 284.4 ± 0.7 million years ago...

 and followed by the Kungurian

Kungurian

In the geologic timescale, the Kungurian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is the latest or upper of four subdivisions of the Cisuralian epoch or series. The Kungurian lasted between 275.6 ± 0.7 and 270.6 ± 0.7 million years ago...

.

Stratigraphy

The Artinskian is named after the small Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n city of Arti

Arti

Arti is an urban locality and the administrative center of Artinsky District of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Artya River at its confluence with the Ufa River, southwest of Yekaterinburg and southeast of Krasnoufimsk. Population: 13,800 .-History:It was founded in 1783 when...

 (formerly Artinsk), situated in the southern Ural mountains

Ural Mountains

The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...

, about 200 km southwest of Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...

. The stage was introduced into scientific literature by Alexander Karpinsky in 1874.

The base of the Artinskian stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where fossils of conodont

Conodont

Conodonts are extinct chordates resembling eels, classified in the class Conodonta. For many years, they were known only from tooth-like microfossils now called conodont elements, found in isolation. Knowledge about soft tissues remains relatively sparse to this day...

 species Sweetognathus whitei and Mesogondolella bissell first appear. As of 2009, there was no agreement yet on a global reference profile (a GSSP) for the base of the Artinskian. The top of the Artinskian (the base of the Kungurian) is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where fossils of conodont

Conodont

Conodonts are extinct chordates resembling eels, classified in the class Conodonta. For many years, they were known only from tooth-like microfossils now called conodont elements, found in isolation. Knowledge about soft tissues remains relatively sparse to this day...

s Neostreptognathodus pnevi and Neostreptognathodus exculptus first appear.

External links

• GeoWhen Database - Artinskian
• Upper Paleozoic stratigraphic chart at the website of the subcommission for stratigraphic information of the ICS