Why is the K.T. boundary so-called? It should be the C.T. boundary?!!?

The boundary is between Cretacious period and, Tersiary period. C, C.T..

Why is the K.T. boundary so-called? It should be the C.T. boundary?!!?
K for Cretaceous, T for Tertiary.





The K sometimes may not make sense, but C was already used (Carboniferous), and they decided to take the root form of Cretaceous, which is a German word starting with K...Kreidezeit.





LOL. You learn something new every day...I knew it had something to do with word Cretaceous was based on, but never bothered to learn what the word was.
Reply:because K is the abbreviation for cretacious period (don't ask my why) and T is the abbreviation for tertiary period
Reply:It's K because C is already used for the Carboniferous era.





And it's TERTIARY
Reply:Etymology of Cretaceous





cretaceous


c.1675, adj., "chalky," from L. cretaceus "chalky," from creta "chalk." As a geological period (with a capital C-), it was first used 1832. The extensive chalk beds of southeastern England were laid down during the Cretaceous





This is just some extra info.





The naming of geological periods and sub-periods is interesting referencing people places





eg The Silurian is named after the Silures tribe that occupied the part of wales where the early work took place. Likewise for the ordovician





Jurassic named after the Jura mountains in France
Reply:The K comes from the German for chalk; Kreide. To make things more fun, it's often being called the K-P boundary these days as the transition from the Cretaceous-Palaeogene. Tertiary's being discriminated against.