The Triassic is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period of the Mesozoic Era. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic Period is subdivided into three epochs: Early Triassic, Middle Triassic and Late Triassic.
Walter Brian Harland was a British geologist at the Department of Geology, later University of Cambridge Department of Earth Sciences, England, from 1948 to 2003. He was a leading figure in geological exploration and research in Svalbard, organising over 40 Cambridge Spitsbergen Expeditions (CSE) and in 1975 founded the Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme (CASP) as a research institute to continue this work. He was first secretary of the International Geological Correlation Programme from 1969 until UNESCO could take over in 1972, and was a driving force in setting criteria and standards in stratigraphy and producing 4 editions of the geological time scale in 1964, 1971, 1982 and 1989. He also edited the international Geological Magazine for 30 years. In 1968, he was honoured with the Royal Geographical Society Gold Medal for Arctic exploration and research.
The Carnian is the lowermost stage of the Upper Triassic Series. It lasted from 237 to 227 million years ago (Ma). The Carnian is preceded by the Ladinian and is followed by the Norian. Its boundaries are not characterized by major extinctions or biotic turnovers, but a climatic event occurred during the Carnian and seems to be associated with important extinctions or biotic radiations.
The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between 237 Ma and 201.3 Ma. It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. The corresponding series of rock beds is known as the Upper Triassic. The Late Triassic is divided into the Carnian, Norian and Rhaetian Ages.
The Hanson Formation is a geologic formation on Mount Kirkpatrick and North Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is one of the few two major dinosaur-bearing rock groups found on the Antarctica to date; the other is the Snow Hill Island Formation and related formations from the Late Cretaceous of the Antarctic Peninsula. The formation has yielded only a handful of Mesozoic specimens so far and most of it is as yet unexcavated. Part of the Victoria Group of the Transantarctic Mountains, it is below the Prebble Formation and above the Falla Formation. The Formation is related to the Volcanic Activity Linked to the Karoo-Ferar eruptions on the Lower Jurassic. The climate of the zone was similar to the modern Southern Chile, Humid, with a temperature interval of 17–18 degrees. The Hanson Formation is correlated with the Section Peak Formation on Eisenhower Range and Deep Freeze Range, as well volcanic deposits on the Convoy Range and Ricker Hills of Southern Victoria Land.
The Santa Maria Formation is a sedimentary rock formation found in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It has a Carnian age, and is notable for its fossils of cynodonts, "rauisuchian" pseudosuchians, and early dinosaurs and other dinosauromorphs, including the herrerasaurid Staurikosaurus, the basal sauropodomorphs Buriolestes and Saturnalia, and the lagerpetid Ixalerpeton. It received this name because it was discovered first in the city of Santa Maria, on the central region of Rio Grande do Sul state.
The Ischigualasto Formation is a Late Triassic fossiliferous formation and Lagerstätte in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin of the southwestern La Rioja Province and northeastern San Juan Province in northwestern Argentina. The formation dates to the Carnian age and ranges between 231.7 and 225 Ma, based on ash bed dating.
Cyclotosaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl within the family Mastodonsauridae. It was of great size for an amphibian, reaching 3–4.3 m (9.8–14.1 ft) in length with an elongated 70 cm (28 in) skull.
The Pekin Formation is a Late Triassic (Carnian) geological formation in North Carolina. The Pekin Formation is specific to the Sanford Sub-Basin of the Deep River Basin of North Carolina, although it may be equivalent to the Stockton Formation of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The Pekin Formation was deposited in a rift basin along the Atlantic margin of North America during the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Late Triassic. The most common rocks in the Pekin Formation are red to brown sandstones, representing a terrestrial fluvial (riverine) and floodplain environment in a hot, humid climate. It has yielded both abundant plant and animal fossils, including some of the oldest potential dinosaur footprints in the world and the large predatory crocodylomorph Carnufex carolinensis.
Tecovasuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaur. It is known primarily from osteoderms found from the Tecovas Formation in Texas, which is Late Triassic in age, dating back to the lower Norian. Material is also known from several other localities of the Chinle Group in New Mexico and Arizona, such as older Carnian outcrops and younger Rhaetian outcrops. Specimens of Tecovasuchus have been collected from the Tecovas Formation, the Bluewater Creek Formation, and the Los Esteros Member of the Santa Rosa Formation.
The Wolfville Formation is a Triassic geologic formation of Nova Scotia. The formation is of Carnian to early Norian age. Fossils of small land vertebrates have been found in the formation, including procolophonid and early archosauromorph reptiles and cynodonts. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus.
The Carnian pluvial episode (CPE), often called the Carnian pluvial event, was an interval of major changes in global climate and the dominant plants and animals, or biota, of Earth that occurred during the Carnian stage of the late Triassic period. It occurred over several million years, across the boundary between the Julian and Tuvalian substages of the Carnian. It led to the evolution and diversification of many important groups of life, including the first dinosaurs, lepidosaurs, and calcium-containing microfossils, as well as a wider array of conifers and stony corals. The CPE also led to the extinction of many aquatic invertebrate species, especially among the ammonoids, conodonts, bryozoa, and crinoids.
The Vikinghøgda Formation is a geologic formation in Svalbard, Norway. It preserves fossils dating back to the Early Triassic (Griesbachian-Smithian) period.
De Geerdalen is a valley in Nordenskiöld Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is named after Swedish geologist and Arctic explorer Gerard De Geer. The mountain pass of Kreklingpasset divides De Geerdalen from Helvetiadalen. The river of De Geerelva flows through the valley, and debouches into Sassenfjorden at Elveneset.
Botneheia is a mountain in Nordenskiöld Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It has a height of 522 m.a.s.l., and is located south of Sassenfjorden, east of the valley of De Geerdalen.
Tschermakfjellet is a mountain in Dickson Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It has a height of 422 m.a.s.l., and is located between the valley of Sauriedalen and Kongressfjellet. The mountain is named after Austrian mineralogist Gustav Tschermak von Seysenegg.
Kapp Toscana is a headland at the southern side of Van Keulenfjorden in Wedel Jarlsberg Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is named after an Austrian family. West of the headland is the bay of Bourbonhamna, extending from Kapp Toscana to Kapp Madrid. East of the headland is the bay of Ingebrigtsenbukta, extending from Kapp Toscana to Ålesundneset.
The geology of Svalbard encompasses the geological description of rock types found in Svalbard, and the associated tectonics and sedimentological history of soils and rocks. The geological exploration of Svalbard is an ongoing activity, and recent understandings may differ from earlier interpretations.
The Kapp Toscana Group is a geologic group in Svalbard and Jan Mayen in the Barents Sea, Norway.
The Xiaowa Formation is a Carnian-age geological formation found in southern China. It is a sequence of limestone and marls from the Carnian stage of the Triassic. Its lower section was previously known as the Wayao Formation or Wayao Member of the Falang Formation. Crinoids and marine reptiles are abundant in the Xiaowa Formation, forming a lagerstätte known as the Guanling biota. Ammonoids and conodonts found in the formation constrain its age to the early Carnian. Reptiles of the Guanling biota include ichthyosaurs, thalattosaurs, placodonts, and Odontochelys. Sedimentary events within this formation have been tied to the Carnian Pluvial Event.
Norway 
