Stenian
third and final period of the Mesoproterozoic Era
The Stenian Period ( STEE-nee-ən, from Ancient Greek: στενός, romanized: stenós, meaning "narrow") is the final geologic period in the Mesoproterozoic Era and lasted from 1200 Mya to 1000 Mya (million years ago). Instead of being based on stratigraphy, these dates are defined chronometrically due to the scarcity of Precambrian fossils and lack of reliable zonation. It is preceded by the Ectasian Period and followed by the Neoproterozoic era and the Tonian period.
The supercontinent Rodinia finished assembly during the Stenian, having started during the Ectasian. It would last into the Tonian period before breaking up in the Cryogenian. Rodinia was surrounded by the Mirovian ocean during this time. This closed many seas that formed from the breakup of Columbia.
History
Before the Stenian was defined as a period in 1991, the Riphean age was defined from 1600 to 600 Mya, primarily used in Russia and textbooks across the world. The Stenian period was created in 1991 by K. A. Plumb as part of the New Precambrian time scale, defined as 1200 to 1000 Mya. The name Stenian comes from Ancient Greek: στενός, romanized: stenós, meaning narrow and referring to the narrow polymetamorphic belts in this period.
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This entry incorporates text from “Stenian” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.