Global Standard Stratotype-section And Point Research Articles

Geological heritage of Luxor and its vicinities, Egypt: a new assessment and geotourism perspectives

Geological heritage is an important resource for socio-economic development of Egypt, and, thus, it requires careful exploration. Potentially unique geological features available in Luxor city and its vicinities, including the Dababiya Protectorate, are reassessed on the basis of literature review and field work. This permits to establish six geological heritage types, namely, stratigraphical, palaeogeographical, sedimentary, palaeontological, geochemical, and geomorphological types. Localities representing these types are proposed as geosites, namely, the Dababiya Quarry with the Global Standard Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base-Eocene and horizons representing the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), Gebel Gurnah with the type section of the Thebes Formation, and the localities of the Hatshepsut and Luxor temples representing geological activity of the past civilization. Global rank is assigned to two of these geosites, namely, the Dababiya Quarry and the Hatshepsut Temple. Generally, the geological heritage of Luxor and its vicinities boasts significant geodiversity that is adequately displayed at the geosites. Involvement of the documented geological heritage into tourism activities is possible via integration of geotourism with some other kinds of tourism (cultural, archaeological, etc.) and strategic planning of urban geotourism.

Global Standard Stratotype-Section and Point (GSSP) for the conterminous base of the Miaolingian Series and Wuliuan Stage (Cambrian) at Balang, Jianhe, Guizhou, China

The International Commission on Stratigraphy and the IUGS Executive Committee have recently ratified a Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) defining the conterminous base of the third series and the fifth stage of the Cambrian System. The series and the stage are respectively named the Miaolingian Series and Wuliuan Stage, after the Maioling Mountains in southeastern Guizhou and the Wuliu sidehill, Jianhe County, in eastern Guizhou Province, South China, where the GSSP is located. The GSSP is exposed in a natural outcrop near the Balang Village at a position of 26° 44.843′N latitude and 108° 24.830′E longitude. It is defined at the base of a silty mudstone layer 52.8 m above the base of the Kaili Formation in the Wuliu-Zengjiayan section, coinciding with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan oryctocephalid trilobite Oryctocephalus indicus (base of the O. indicus Zone). Secondary global markers at or near the base of the series and stage include the peak of a rather large negative carbon isotopic excursion (ROECE excursion), the simultaneous appearance of many acanthomorphic acritarch forms, a transgressive phase of a major eustatic event, and the last appearance of intercontinental polymerid trilobites, either Bathynotus or Ovatoryctocara. Faunal turnovers close to the base of the Miaolingian Series and Wuliuan Stage have been recognized as being at the base of the Oryctocephalus indicus Zone of Amgan Stage in Siberia, the Delamaran Stage in Laurentia, the Oryctocephalus indicus Zone in the Indian Himalaya and North Greenland, near the base of the Delamaran Stage in Australia, and within the Eccaparadocides sdzuyi Zone in Iberia and the Ornamentaspis frequens Zone in Morocco.

Early evolution of Declinognathodus close to the Mid‐Carboniferous Boundary interval in the Barcaliente type section (Spain)

AbstractUpper Serpukhovian to lower Bashkirian conodonts studied from the lower and middle part of the Barcaliente Formation type section (NW Spain) are not abundant, but the sedimentary record seems unusually well represented. The first occurrence of Declinognathodus bernesgae occurs more than 140 m below the first occurrence of D. inaequalis, the taxon of the D. noduliferus species group appearing in the bed of the Global Standard Stratotype‐section and Point (GSSP) for the Mid‐Carboniferous Boundary (Arrow Canyon, Nevada). P1 elements transitional between D. bernesgae and D. inaequalis are described and considered relevant to the global correlation of the Mid‐Carboniferous Boundary. In addition, D. praenoduliferus, D. cf. noduliferus, D. lateralis, Idiognathoides asiaticus, I. corrugatus and Neognathodus sp. are described and illustrated from the Barcaliente Formation. A phylogeny is proposed for the early species of these genera on the basis of the morphological changes of the P1 element, where the rostral parapet and area, the surface roughness and the length and depth of the adcarinal troughs are diagnostic characters at the specific level, while caudal ornamentation is a secondary taxonomic character.

Global Standard Stratotype-Section and Point (GSSP) for the Base of the Jiangshanian Stage (Cambrian: Furongian) at Duibian, Jiangshan, Zhejiang, Southeast China

Shanchi Peng, Loren E. Babcock, Jingxun Zuo, Xuejian Zhu, Huanling Lin, Xianfeng Yang, Yuping Qi, Gabriella Bagnoli, Longwu Wang. Episodes 2012;35:462-77. https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2012/v35i4/002

Integrated biostratigraphy of two Upper Maastrichtian – Palaeocene successions in north-central Sinai, Egypt

Integration of the calcareous nannofossil and planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphies has been performed for theUpper Maastrichtian – Palaeocene successions at Gebel Umm Khushayb and west El-Hassana sections (north-centralSinai, Egypt). The studied successions include the uppermost part of the Sudr, Dakhla, and their lateral coeval Beida Formation. Biostratigraphic analysis has allowed recognition from Zone CF2 to Zone P4in terms of planktonic foraminifera and from Zone CC26c to Zone NP7/8 in terms of calcareous nannofossils. Maastrichtian/Palaeogene (K/Pg) boundary is characterized by an erosional surface that marks a hiatus between theSudr/Dakhla or Sudr/Beida formation boundaries, as confi rmed by the absence of the planktonic foraminiferal CF1to P1a zones and their equivalent nannofossil zones (top part of CC26c to lowest part of Zone NP3). Selandian (Da/Se) boundary lies in the upper part of the Dakhla Formation within the top of nannofossil Zone NP4,and within planktonic foraminiferal Zone P3b, similar to that of the Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point(GSSP) of the D/S boundary which has recently been chosen at the Zumaia section, northern Spain. was observed across the Selandian/Thanetian boundary as indicated by a lithological change and a very condensedZone NP6, corresponding to the Dakhla and Tarawan formation boundary in the west El-Hassana section.

Recently Ratified and Proposed Cambrian Global Standard Stratotype‐section and Points

Abstract:This paper briefly summarizes an officially ratified Global Standard Stratotype‐section and Point (GSSP) and a proposed GSSP for global stages of the Cambrian System. The Luoyixi section near Luoyixi town, Guzhang, northwestern Hunan is ratified as the boundary stratotype for the base of the global Guzhangian Stage, which is the upmost stage of an unnamed series termed provisionally as Cambrian Series 3. The GSSP position lies 121.3 m above the base of the Huaqiao Formation in the section, coinciding with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite Lejopyge leavigata. The Duibian B section at Duibian village, Jiangshan, western Zhejiang, is proposed as the boundary stratotype for the base of the proposed global Jiangshanian Stage that is the second stage of the Furongian Series. The proposed GSSP position lies 108.12 m above the base of the Huayansi Formation in the section, coinciding with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite Agnostotes orientalius. This horizon is also with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan polymerid trilobite Irvingella angustilimbata.

Biostratigraphic and Chemostratigraphic Correlation for the Base of the Middle Ordovician between Yichang and Western Zhejiang Areas, South China

Abstract:The base of the Middle Ordovician (i.e. Dapingian Stage) has been defined at the first appearance datum (FAD) of conodont Baltoniodus?triangularis at Huanghuachang, Yichang, China, but the precise correlation of the boundary to regions of other facies remain to be resolved. Herein we review the biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the Huanghuachang Global Standard Stratotype‐Section and Point (GSSP) section, and present our latest stratigraphic work on the nearby Chenjiahe section in Yichang, and the Hengtang Quarry section, Jiangshan, Zhejiang, which is regarded as representative of slope facies. The conodont and graptolite biostratigraphy as well as chemostratigraphy of the Chenjiahe section indicate that the base of the Middle Ordovician also falls within the graptolite Azygograptus suecicus Zone, and coincides with a high or maximum δ13C value within a minor positive carbon isotope excursion, suggesting that the base boundary can be readily recognized across the entire Yangtze Gorges area. The integrated graptolite and conodont biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of the Hengtang section, Jiangshan, indicates that the basal boundary probably falls within the graptolite Isograptus caduceus imitatus Zone that overlies the Azygograptus suecicus Zone, and coincides with a remarkable drop of δ13C. This difference indicates that a multi‐disciplinary approach is critical to identify the base boundary in those regions where the Baltoniodus?triangularis is absent

Geochemical Stratigraphy and Microvertebrate Assemblage Sequences across the Silurian/Devonian Transition in South China

Abstract:Carbon isotope (δ13Corg) analyses of non‐marine clastic rocks and neritic carbonates and black shales spanning the Silurian/Devonian transition are compared from two richly fossiliferous sequences in Qujing of East Yunnan and Zoige of Sichuan, South China. The two sections, Xishancun and Putonggou sections in South China, reveal positive δ13Corg shifts happening in the Upper Pridoli and Lower Devonian and reaching peak values as heavy as –25.2%‰ (Xishancun) and –19.9%‰ (Putonggou) in the lowermost Lochkovian following the first occurrence of the thelodont Parathelodus and the conodont Icriodus woschmidti woschmidti (only in Putonggou Section and together with Protathyris‐Lanceomyonia brachiopod fauna). These results replicate a globally known positive shift in δ13Corg from the uppermost Silurian to the lowermost Devonian. The δ13Corg variations across the Silurian/Devonian Boundary (SDB) at the two sections in South China exhibit a shift in carbon isotopic composition similar to the detailed SDB curves from the borehole Klonk‐1 drilled at top of the Klonk Global Standard Stratotype‐Section and Point (GSSP) in the Prague Basin, Czech Republic. In addition, four microvertebrate assemblages, including the Liaojiaoshan, Xishancun, Yanglugou and Xiaputonggou assemblages, are recognized from the Silurian/Devonian transition exposed in the Xishancun and Putonggou sections, respectively. The results from both carbon isotope stratigraphy and microvertebrate assemblage sequences suggest that the SDB in South China is located at the base of the Xishancun Formation (between sample QX‐20 and sample QX‐21) in the Xishancun Section and the lower part of the Xiaputonggou Formation (between sample ZP‐09 and sample ZP‐10) in the Putonggou Section. The isotopic trend for organic carbon together with the changes of microvertebrate remains across the SDB can offer an approach to a potential correlation of the SDB from different sedimentary facies, which help to correlate the marine with non‐marine deposits.

The Neogene and Quaternary: chronostratigraphic compromise or non-overlapping magisteria?

The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) together with its subcommissions on Neogene Stratigraphy (SNS) and Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) are facing a persistent conundrum regarding the status of the Quaternary, and the implications for the Neogene System/Period and the Pleistocene Series/Epoch. The SQS, in seeking a formal role for the Quaternary in the standard time scale, has put forward reasons not only to truncate and redefine the Neogene in order to accommodate this unit as a third System/Period in the Cenozoic, but furthermore to shift the base of the Pleistocene to c. 2.6 Ma to conform to a new appreciation of when “Quaternary climates" began. The present authors, as members of SNS, support the well-established concept of a Neogene extending to the Recent, as well as the integrity of the Pleistocene according to its classical meaning, and have published arguments for workable options that avoid this conflict. In this paper, we return to the basic principles involved in the conversion of the essentially marine biostratigraphic/ biochronologic units of Lyell and other 19th-century stratigraphers into the modern hierarchical arrangement of chronostratigraphic units, embodied in the Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) formulation for boundary definitions. Seen in this light, an immediate problem arises from the fact that the Quaternary, either in its original sense as a state of consolidation or in the more common sense as a paleoclimatic entity, is conceptually different from a Lyellian unit, and that a Neogene/Quaternary boundary may therefore be a non sequitur. Secondly, as to retaining the base of the Pleistocene at 1.8 Ma, the basic hierarchical principles dictate that changing the boundary of any non-fundamental or “higher" chronostratigraphic unit is not possible without moving the boundary of its constituent fundamental unit. Therefore, to move the base of the Pleistocene, which is presently defined by the Calabrian GSSP at 1.8 Ma, to be identified with the Gelasian GSSP at 2.6 Ma, requires action to formally redefine the Gelasian as part of the Pleistocene. Finally, it is important to keep in mind that the subject under discussion is chronostratigraphy, not biostratigraphy. Both systems are based on the fossil record, but biostratigraphic units are created to subdivide and correlate stratigraphic sequences. The higher-level units of chronostratigraphy, however, were initially selected to reflect the history of life through geological time. The persistence of a characteristic biota in the face of environmental pressures during the last 23 my argues strongly for the concept of an undivided Neogene that extends to the present. Several ways to accommodate the Quaternary in the standard time scale can be envisaged that preserve the original concepts of the Neogene and Pleistocene. The option presently recommended by SNS, and most compatible with the SQS position, is to denominate the Quaternary as a subperiod/subsystem of the Neogene, decoupled from the Pleistocene so that its base can be identified with the Gelasian GSSP at c. 2.6 Ma. A second option is to retain strict hierarchy by restricting a Quaternary subperiod to the limits of the Pleistocene at 1.8 Ma. As a third option, the Quaternary could be a subera/suberathem or a supersystem/ superperiod, decoupled from the Neogene and thus with its base free to coincide with a convenient marker such as the base of the Pleistocene at 1.8 Ma, or to the Gelasian at 2.6 Ma, as opinions about paleoclimatology dictate. If no compromise can be reached within hierarchical chronostratigraphy, however, an alternative might be to consider Quaternary and Neogene as mutually exclusive categories (climatostratigraphic vs. chronostratigraphic) in historical geology. In this case, we would recommend the application of the principle of NOMA, or Non-Overlapping Magisteria, in the sense of the elegant essay by the late Stephen J. Gould (1999) on the mutually exclusive categories of Religion and Science. In this case the Quaternary would have its own independent status as a climatostratigraphic unit with its own subdivisions based on climatic criteria.

Evolution of Carbon Isotope Composition in Potential Global Stratotype Section and Point at Luoyixi, South China, for the Base of the Unnamed Global Seventh Stage of Cambrian System

This work deals with the evolution of carbon isotope composition in the Luoyixi Section, a candidate of the Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP), defining the base of the as-yet-undefined seventh stage of Cambrian System at the first appearance of the cosmopolitan agnostoid Lejopyge laevigata. This level is favored in a vote of International Subcommission on Cambrian Stratigraphy (ISCS) as the biohorizon for defining the base of a global stage. Two hundred and sixty-four samples for carbon and oxygen isotope analysis have been collected from the carbonate successions at an interval of 0.25 to 0.5 m in this section. Results of the carbon isotope data exhibit a remarkable disciplinarian trend. The pattern of the carbon isotope evolution is gently undulant with a relatively long period during the underlying Drumian Stage, and then the values of δ13C fluctuate sharply with a short period in provisional seventh stage. The onset of sharp fluctuation in the δ13C values begins at the proposed GSSP level, defining the base of the global seventh stage, where δ13C values change from a gentle trend to a sharp trend. Distinct covariant-relationships among δ13C, δ18O, and sea level fluctuations suggest that a warming change in paleoclimate took place during the early global seventh stage, which led to a positive shift in δ13C values.

The Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Eocene Series in the Dababiya section (Egypt)

The Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Eocene Series in the Dababiya section (Egypt)

Proposed stratotype for the base of the highest Cambrian stage at the first appearance datum of Cordylodus andresi, Lawson Cove section, Utah, USA

We propose a candidate for the Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the highest stage of the Furongian Series of the Cambrian System. The section is at Lawson Cove in the Ibex area of Millard County, Utah, USA. The marker horizon is the first appearance datum (FAD) of the conodont Cordylodus andresi Viira et Sergeyeva in Kaljo et al. [Kaljo, D., Borovko, N., Heinsalu, H., Khazanovich, K., Mens, K., Popov, L., Sergeyeva, S., Sobolevskaya, R., Viira, V., 1986. The Cambrian–Ordovician boundary in the Baltic–Ladoga clint area (North Estonia and Leningrad Region, USSR). Eesti NSV Teaduste Akadeemia Toimetised. Geologia 35, 97–108]. At this section and elsewhere this horizon also is the FAD of the trilobite Eurekia apopsis (Winston et Nicholls, 1967). This conodont characterizes the base of the Cordylodus proavus Zone, which has been recognized in many parts of the world. This trilobite characterizes the base of the Eurekia apopsis Zone, which has been recognized in many parts of North America. The proposed boundary is 46.7 m above the base of the Lava Dam Member of the Notch Peak Formation at the Lawson Cove section. Brachiopods, sequence stratigraphy, and carbon-isotope geochemistry are other tools that characterize this horizon and allow it to be recognized in other areas.

The Wuchiapingian–Changhsingian boundary (Upper Permian) at Meishan of Changxing County, South China

Section D at Meishan, Changxing County in the Zhejiang Province, China, has been extensively studied in various aspects of the stratigraphy during the past 20 years. It was ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) as the Global Standard Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Permian–Triassic boundary in 2000, and is also a potential stratotype for the Wuchiapingian–Changhsingian boundary. However, the contact relationship between the Longtan (Wuchiapingian) and Changxing (Chainghsingian) formations has been a controversial subject for years. Recent studies on Section C, about 300 m west of Section D, at Meishan confirm a complete depositional succession around the boundary and suggest that the proposed boundary level, the FAD of Clarkina wangi within the lineage from C. longicuspidata to C. wangi, is consistent with the first appearance of the index Changhsingian fusulinid Palaeofusulina sinensis and tapashanitid ammonoids.

Global Standard Stratotype‐section and Point (GSSP) of the Furongian Series and Paibian Stage (Cambrian)

The Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) of the Furongian Series (uppermost series of the Cambrian System) and the Paibian Stage (lowermost stage of the Furongian Series), has been recently defined and ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). The boundary stratotype is 369 metres above the base of the Huaqiao Formation in the Paibi section, northwestern Hunan Province, China. This point coincides with the first appearance of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite Glyptagnostus reticulatus, and occurs near the base of a large positive carbon isotopic excursion (SPICE excursion).

Potential Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) for a Cambrian stage boundary defined by the first appearance of the trilobite Ptychagnostus atavus, Drum Mountains, Utah, USA

The base of the Ptychagnostus (or Acidusus) atavus Zone is one of the most clearly recognizable horizons on an intercontinental scale in the Cambrian System, and would serve as an excellent position for the base of a new stage-level chronostratigraphic subdivision. Among well-exposed, readily accessible sections in Laurentia, the “Stratotype Ridge” section, Drum Mountains, western Utah, USA, is perhaps the most suitable for a Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) defined by the first appearance datum (FAD) of the cosmopolitan agnostoid trilobite P. atavus. In the “Stratotype Ridge” section, the FAD of P. atavus occurs near the base of a calcisiltite bed 62 m above the base of the Wheeler Formation. A position corresponding closely to this horizon can be recognized with precision in Gondwana, Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Baltica using a combination of stratigraphic tools, the most useful of which are trilobite biostratigraphy, conodont biostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy. Brachiopod biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy provide general constraints on the position of the horizon intercontinentally.

Upper Paleocene-lower Eocene planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Dababiya section, Upper Nile Valley (Egypt)

Research Article| June 01, 2003 Upper Paleocene-lower Eocene planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Dababiya section, Upper Nile Valley (Egypt) William A. Berggren; William A. Berggren 1Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, e-mail: wberggren@whoi.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Khaled Ouda Khaled Ouda 2Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, 71516, Assiut, Egypt, e-mail: kh_ouda@yahoo.com Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Micropaleontology (2003) 49 (Suppl_1): 61–92. https://doi.org/10.2113/49.Suppl_1.61 Article history first online: 06 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation William A. Berggren, Khaled Ouda; Upper Paleocene-lower Eocene planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Dababiya section, Upper Nile Valley (Egypt). Micropaleontology 2003;; 49 (Suppl_1): 61–92. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/49.Suppl_1.61 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyMicropaleontology Search Advanced Search Abstract We describe the planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the ~130m thick upper Paleocene-lower Eocene composite stratigraphic section at Dababiya, which contains the recently designated Global Standard Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. The measured (composite) section extends from the Tarawan Chalk (Zone P4), through the Esna Shale (Zone P4c, P5-8) to the basal Thebes Limestone (Zone P8). Midway-type benthic foraminiferal faunas extend throughout the section and suggest deposition at mid-outer neritic depths with no indication of (significant) shallowing at the Esna/Thebes contact across which Zone P8 planktonic foraminiferal faunas continue. The Paleocene/Eocene boundary GSSP is located in the lowermost part of the Esna Shales at the base of a dark clayey horizon at ~1.6m above the base of section DBH (~5.7m above the top of the Tarawan Chalk). The level is firmly located in conjunction with the base of the carbon isotope excursion (CIE) and is immediately succeeded by ~3.75m of the lithologically distinct Dababiya Quarry Beds. The characteristic planktonic events that are associated with the CIE in oceanic sections are well represented throughout the 3.2m interval directly overlying the P/E GSSP (~5.7m to 8.9m above the base of the Esna Shales) within the Dababiya Quarry Beds. Acarinina sibaiyaensis is by far the most common of the planktonic foraminiferal excursion taxa (PFET) that appear slightly (75cm) above the base of the Dababiya Quarry Beds. The latter interval exhibits a phased pattern characterized by different lithologies, biota and faunal patterns that we interpret as reflecting progressive changes in temperature and content of dissolved oxygen as a result of global changes in climate and water circulation. The critical interval is generally bracketed (below) by the upward sequential lowest occurrences (LOs) of Acarinina esnaensis, Igorina broedermanni, Ac. angulosa and Ac. wilcoxensis, and (above) by the LO of Pseudohastigerina wilcoxensis. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

The Paleocene/Eocene boundary in Egypt: An overview

The search for a Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) for the Paleocene/Eocene boundary has resulted in several concurrent studies of the Upper Paleocene-Lower Eocene interval in sections across Egypt from the Eastern and Western Deserts to Upper Egypt where spectacular outcrops occur along the Nile Valley. These studies have brought a wealth of data but their conclusions have been occasionally contradictory. I introduce these, and other relevant, sections, describing their lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy, summarizing the main results of their study, and discussing conflicting interpretations. Special attention is given to the interval that yields a record of the short-term events that are specific to the carbon isotope excursion, or CIE, and whose base now constitutes the principal means of correlation of the Paleocene/Eocene boundary.

The Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) of the Piacenzian Stage (Middle Pliocene)

The base of the Piacenzian Stage, representing the Lower Pliocene-Middle Pliocene boundary, has been recently defined and ratified by IUGS. The boundarystratotype is located in the Punta Piccola section (Sicily, Italy).

Microplankton from Australian Cretaceous Sediments

The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) together with its subcommissions on Neogene Stratigraphy (SNS) and Stratigraphy (SQS) are facing a persistent conundrum regarding the status of the Quaternary, and the implications for the Neogene System/Period and the Pleistocene Series/Epoch. The SQS, in seeking a formal role for the in the standard time scale, has put forward reasons not only to truncate and redefine the Neogene in order to accommodate this unit as a third System/Period in the Cenozoic, but furthermore to shift the base of the Pleistocene to c. 2.6 Ma to conform to a new appreciation of when Quaternary climates began. The present authors, as members of SNS, support the well-established concept of a Neogene extending to the Recent, as well as the integrity of the Pleistocene according to its classical meaning, and have published arguments for workable options that avoid this conflict. In this paper, we return to the basic principles involved in the conversion of the essentially marine biostratigraphic/ biochronologic units of Lyell and other 19 th -century stratigraphers into the modern hierarchical arrangement of chronostratigraphic units, embodied in the Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) formulation for boundary definitions. Seen in this light, an immediate problem arises from the fact that the Quaternary, either in its original sense as a state of consolidation or in the more common sense as a paleoclimatic entity, is conceptually different from a Lyellian unit, and that a Neogene/Quaternary boundary may therefore be a non sequitur. Secondly, as to retaining the base of the Pleistocene at 1.8 Ma, the basic hierarchical principles dictate that changing the boundary of any non-fundamental or higher chronostratigraphic unit is not possible without moving the boundary of its constituent fundamental unit. Therefore, to move the base of the Pleistocene, which is presently defined by the Calabrian GSSP at 1.8 Ma, to be identified with the Gelasian GSSP at 2.6 Ma, requires action to formally redefine the Gelasian as part of the Pleistocene. Finally, it is im- portant to keep in mind that the subject under discussion is chronostratigraphy, not biostratigraphy. Both systems are based on the fossil record, but biostratigraphic units are created to subdivide and correlate stratigraphic sequences. The higher-level units of chrono- stratigraphy, however, were initially selected to reflect the history of life through geological time. The persistence of a characteristic biota in the face of environmental pressures during the last 23 my argues strongly for the concept of an undivided Neogene that extends to the present. Several ways to accommodate the in the standard time scale can be envisaged that preserve the original concepts of the Neogene and Pleistocene. The option presently recommended by SNS, and most compatible with the SQS position, is to denominate the as a subperiod/subsystem of the Neogene, decoupled from the Pleistocene so that its base can be identified with the Gelasian GSSP at c. 2.6 Ma. A second option is to retain strict hierarchy by restricting a subperiod to the limits of the Pleistocene at 1.8 Ma. As a third option, the could be a subera/suberathem or a supersystem/ superperiod, decoupled from the Neogene and thus with its base free to coincide with a convenient marker such as the base of the Pleistocene at 1.8 Ma, or to the Gelasian at 2.6 Ma, as opinions about paleoclimatology dictate. If no compromise can be reached within hierarchical chronostratigraphy, however, an alterna- tive might be to consider and Neogene as mutually exclusive categories (climatostratigraphic vs. chronostratigraphic) in his- torical geology. In this case, we would recommend the application of the principle of NOMA, or Non-Overlapping Magisteria, in the sense of the elegant essay by the late Stephen J. Gould (1999) on the mutually exclusive categories of Religion and Science. In this case the would have its own independent status as a climatostratigraphic unit with its own subdivisions based on climatic criteria.