The Sparnacien constitutes the lower part of the stage Yprésien, which marks the base of the Eocene , 55,8 Million years ago.
The standard cut of Sparnacien is at Épernay (Marne), from where its name (of Sparnacum , Latin name of Épernay). This term was invented per G.F. Dollfus (1877) to distinguish “plastic clay and the lignites from Soissonnais” of the formation of sands of Bracheux (Thanétien) and of that of sands of Cook-the-Mound (Cuisien). Sparnacien is distinguished from Thanétien (which constitutes the subjacent stage), even more raised, by the presence of a fauna comprising of the Mammifère S.
Because of the imperfections of its definition, this stratigraphic division, given in a fluviomarine continental series, was very disputed because it is not founded on marine layers.
See too
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