Where does “白堊紀” come from?

白堊紀 (Chinese) comes from Japanese 白亜紀, from Japanese 紀, from Middle Chinese 紀.

Ancestry of “白堊紀”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese白亜紀the Cretaceous
2Japanese紀chronicle, written record
3Middle Chinese紀—
Every word from Middle Chinese 紀 →Every word from Japanese 紀 →Every word from Japanese 白亜紀 →