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Re: K/T



     C conflicts with Cambrian.  K is the first letter for the German word 
     for Cretaceous.


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: K/T
Author:  paleonet-owner (paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk) at unix,in
Date:    11/18/94 6:36 AM


in regard to the wildness here on what the K in Cretaceous meant...you 
stated..."In the words of Monty Python's Flying Circus "This is getting toooo 
silly!"
Goodness knows what will be made of `Permian' - something to do with 
hairdressers, think you?????"
     
I agree...perhaps this will help....look it up in the AGI Glossary of 
Geology...the standard for geologic terms.. I quote:
    "...it is named after the Latin word for chalk (creta) because of the
English chalk beds of this age."  Why a "K" instead of a "C"????  Because the 
older stem word the Romans used was a Greek word that started with a hard 
"C"...a Kappa...hence a "K".