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A GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE 2004 An international team of over 40 stratigraphic experts, many actively involved in the International Commission of Stratigraphy (ICS), have helped to build the most up-to-date international stratigraphic framework for the Precambrian and Phanerozoic. This successor to A Geologic Time Scale 1989 by W. Brian Harland et al. (Cambridge, 1989) begins with an introduction to the theory and methodology behind the construction of the new time scale. The main part of the book is devoted to the scale itself, systematically presenting the standard subdivisions at all levels using a variety of correlation markers. Extensive use is made of stable and unstable isotope geochronology, geomathematics, and orbital tuning to produce a standard geologic scale of unprecedented detail and accuracy with a full error analysis. A wallchart summarizing the whole time scale, with paleogeographic reconstructions throughout the Phanerozoic is included in the back of the book. The time scale will be an invaluable reference source for academic and professional researchers and students. F E L I X G R A D S T E I N is currently Professor of Stratigraphy and Micropaleontology at the Geological Museum of the University of Oslo where he leads the offshore relational stratigraphic database funded by a petroleum consortium. He is the current chair of the International Commission on Stratigraphy, which is working on the formal classification of the global Precambrian and Phanerozoic rock record and the international time scale. JA M E S O G G is Professor of Stratigraphy at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, and has research interests in magnetochronology, cyclostratigraphy, sedimentology, and stratigraphic databases. He is presently Secretary General of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). A L A N S M I T H is Reader in Geology at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St. John’s College. His principal research interests are paleogeographic reconstruction and related software development.
A Geologic Time Scale 2004 Edited by Felix M. Gradstein, James G. Ogg, and Alan G. Smith
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge , UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521781428 © F. M. Gradstein, J. G. Ogg, and A. G. Smith 2004 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2005 - -
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Dedication We dedicate this third edition of the Geologic Time Scale book to W. B. (Brian) Harland† . He was an inspiring leader in practical stratigraphy, its philosophical roots, and its prime product: The Geologic Time Scale!
†
Deceased.
With the acceptance of a reliable time scale, geology will have gained an invaluable key to further discovery. In every branch of science its mission will be to unify and correlate, and with its help a fresh light will be thrown on the more fascinating problems of the Earth and its Past