Summary of an International Guide to Stratigraphic Classification,Terminology, and Usage

International Sub commission on Stratigraphic Classification [Report No. 7b; editor H. D. Hedberg]: Summary of an International Guide to Stratigraphic Classification, Terminology, and Usage. Lethaia, Vol. 5, pp. 297–323. Oslo, July 15th, 1972. Six published reports (and some 40 circulars) of the International Sub commission on Stratigraphic Classification (ISSC) constitute the principal bases for the initial edition of an International Guide to Stratigraphic Classification, Terminology, and Usage. The published reports on Lithostratigraphic Units, Biostratigraphic Units, Chronostratigraphic Units, and Stratotypes are advance chapters of the Guide. The following Summary, which with the preceding Introduction will form the first chapter of the completed Guide, provides a concise and condensed statement of principles, definitions, and proposed rules, which are elaborated in more detail in the published reports and individual chapters of the Guide.     

The Ordovician-Silurian boundary stratotype: consequences of its approval by the IUGS

Lespérance, Pierre J., Barnes, Christopher R., Berry, William B. N., Boucot, Arthur J. & Mu En-zhi 1987 07 15: The Ordovician-Silurian boundary stratotype: consequences of its approval by the IUGS.
The Ordovician-Silurian stratotype at Dob's Linn, Scotland is the second systemic boundary approved by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). A review of the internationally accepted criteria required of a stratotype shows that few of these are possessed by the Dob's Linn section. The strongest attribute of the section is the presence of zonal graptolites, although the boundary is recognized primarily on a single biological event (base of acuminatus Zone) for which the evolutionary relationships of the taxa are not established. In approving this boundary proposal in 1985, which received only simple majority support within the Ordovician-Silurian Boundary Working Group (OSBWG) and which fails to meet most of the accepted prerequisites for a stratotype, the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and the IUGS have established an unfortunate precedent. It follows that future systemic boundaries need not meet the accepted standards. It raises serious questions on the assessment and voting procedures of the International Commission on Stratigraphy and on the credence accorded the recommendations developed by the International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification of IUGS.     

Fossils and lithostratigraphy

It is proposed that any future revision of the International Stratigraphic Guide should explicitly approve the use of characteristic faunal and floral assemblages in the definition of lithostratigraphical units, providing that the fossils are readily observable and identifiable in the field and assist in the mapping of the rocks.     

Forum. Stratigraphic Fit to Phylogenies: A Proposed Solution

Three measures intended to assess the fit of stratigraphic age to the fossil record have been suggested previously: the Spearman Rank Correlation (SRC), the Stratigraphic Consistency Index (SCI) and the Relative Completeness Index (RCI). The original formulation of SRC is intractable to all but pectinate trees and the corrective pruning procedure that circumvents this precludes whole-tree estimates of fit. SCI, though it has been claimed otherwise, is strongly biased by tree shape, particularly as one adds more information. RCI is a measure of the amount of gap in the fossil record but has awkward consequences for evolutionary biology when it is maximized. A new approach, the Manhattan Stratigraphic Measure, uses the Manhattan distance between stratigraphic ages to determine fit to a tree. It is not biased by tree shape, it is sensitive to the magnitude of age discrepancy and there is an obvious significance test.     

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Die Orchideen. By R udolf S chlechter . Ed. by F. G. B rieger , R. M aatsch and K. S enghas .
A Gardener's Dictionary of Plant Names . By A. W. S mith . Revised and enlarged by W illiam T. S tearn and I. L. L. S mith .
Plant Geography of the Pacific. By M. M. J. van B algooy .
Einführung in die Pflanzensoziologie. By R. K napp .
Taxonomy of Fungi Imperfecti (Proceedings of the First International Specialists' Workshop Conference on Criteria and Terminology in the Classification of Fungi Imperfecti, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada). Ed. by B ryce K endrick .
Introduction to Plant Biochemistry. By T. W. G oodwin and E. I. M ercer .
Symposium on the Biochemical and Ecological Aspects of Plant-Parasite Relations. Ed. by Z. K iráaly and L. S zalay -M arzsó .
IVth Meeting of the International Council for the Study of Viruses and Virus Diseases of Grapevine, Colmar.
Some Common Flowering Plants of Uganda. By E. M. L ind and A. C. T allantire .     

A proposed new global stratotype for Aeronian Stage of the Silurian System: Hlásná Třebaň section,Czech Republic

The current Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP ) for the Aeronian Stage (Llandovery Series, Silurian System), on Trefawr track in the Llandovery area of Wales, is an inadequate marker for precise, global, correlation. The International Subcommission on Silurian Stratigraphy has, therefore, undertaken the selection of a new GSSP for this level. The lowest occurrence of the graptolite Demirastrites triangulatus , 1.38 m above the base of the black‐shale succession of the ?elkovice Formation at the Hlásná T?ebaň section in Central Bohemia, is proposed to mark the base of the Aeronian Stage. The section, which fulfils all formal requirements for stratotype of a chronostratigraphical unit, should be considered as a candidate for the new GSSP . An abundant, well‐preserved, diverse graptolite fauna occurs through the section along with common chitinozoans, which indicate that the Spinachitina maennili Biozone spans the boundary interval. The section comprises the lower–middle Aeronian (D. triangulatus–Lituigraptus convolutus graptolite biozones) along with underlying Rhuddanian (Akidograptus ascensus–Coronograptus cyphus biozones) and Hirnantian strata. Several graptolite genera of primary importance in global correlation (Demirastrites , Petalolithus , Rastrites and Campograptus ) first appear in the lower part of the triangulatus Biozone. The structurally simple section is somewhat condensed, but there is a uniform succession of black shale without any evidence of disconformity in the broad boundary interval. The C_org isotope record exhibits a minor positive excursion just above the base of the triangulatus Biozone, whereas TOC and N isotope and elemental geochemical records provide evidence for uninterrupted sedimentation under stable, anoxic conditions.     

The significance of ecostratigraphy and need for biostratigraphic hierarchy in stratigraphic nomenclature

It is proposed that the lithostratigraphic, biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic categories currently recognized in the International Stratigraphic Guide should be expanded by an additional category, provisionally termed ecostratigraphy. This category would incorporate fossil subcommunities, communities, faunal and floral provinces, and biomes, to provide an ecologic counterpart to lithostratigraphy, and would help bridge the categories of lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy. It is also suggested that a hierarchy of terms in biostratigraphy would be useful, with formal recognition of subzones and superzones. Subzones may be defined as 'zones within zones', or short-lived biologic events in which one or a few species dominated communities, without permanently changing the benthos in the marine world. They therefore are equivalent in rank to fossil communities. Superzones are defined as correlative zones. If superzones were to be matched with substages (in biologic but not lithologic content), we would have a natural link between biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy.     

The new chronostratigraphic classification of the Ordovician System and its relations to major regional series and stages and to δ13C chemostratigraphy

The extensive work carried out during more than a decade by the International Subcommission on Ordovician Stratigraphy has resulted in a new global classification of the Ordovician System into three series and seven stages. Formal Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Points (GSSPs) for all stages have been selected and these and the new stage names have been ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Based on a variety of biostratigraphic data, these new units are correlated with chronostratigraphic series and stages in the standard regional classifications used in the UK, North America, Baltoscandia, Australia, China, Siberia and the Mediterranean‐North Gondwana region. Furthermore, based mainly on graptolite and conodont zones, the Ordovician is subdivided into 20 stage slices (SS) that have potential for precise correlations in both carbonate and shale facies. The new chronostratigraphic scheme is also tied to a new composite δ¹³C curve through the entire Ordovician.     

The Statistical Analysis of Recurrent Events by COOK, R. J. and LAWLESS, J. F.

The Statistical Analysis of Recurrent Events (R. J. Cook and J. F. Lawless) Chiung‐Yu Huang and Xianghua Luo Introduction to Empirical Processes and Semiparametric Inference (M. R. Kosorok) Changyong Feng Uncertain Judgements: Eliciting Experts' Probabilities (A. O'Hagan, C. E. Buck, A. Daneshkhah, J. R. Eiser, P. H. Garthwaite, D. J. Jenkinson, J. E. Oakley, and T. Rakow) James M. Dickey Models for Intensive Longitudinal Data (T. A. Walls and J. L. Schafer, editors) Daniel Farewell Quantitative Environmental Risk Analysis for Human Health (R. A. Fjeld, N. A. Eisenberg, and K. L. Compton) Scott M. Bartell Reliable Reasoning: Induction and Statistical Learning Theory (G. Harman and S. Kulkarni) Oliver Schulte Modeling Infectious Diseases in Humans and Animals (M. J. Keeling and P. Rohani) Carol Y. Lin Cluster and Classification Techniques for the Biosciences (A. H. Fielding) Morven Leese Modern Applied U‐Statistics (J. Kowalski and X. M. Tu) Jesse Frey Handbook of Statistical Genetics, 3rd edition (D. J. Balding, M. Bishop, and C. Cannings, editors) Karin Bammann, Ronja Foraita, Frauke Günther Quality of Life: The Assessment, Analysis, and Interpretation of Patient‐Reported Outcomes, 2nd edition (P. M. Fayers and D. Machin) Jeff A. Sloan, Amylou Dueck, Rui Qin, Wenting Wu, Pamela J. Atherton, Paul Novotny, Heshan Liu, Kelli N. Burger, Angelina D. Tan, Daniel Szydlo, Victor M. Johnson, Sara J. Felten, Xinghua Zhao, and Brent Diekmann Advanced Distance Sampling: Estimating Abundance of Biological Populations (S. T. Buckland, D. R. Anderson, K. P. Burnham, J. L. Laake, C. L. Borchers, and L. Thomas) Carl James Schwarz Brief Reports by the Editor The Construction of Optimal Stated Choice Experiments: Theory and Methods (D. J. Street and L. Burgess) Design and Analysis of Experiments, Volume 1: Introduction to Experimental Design, 2nd edition (K. Hinkelmann and O. Kempthorne) Introduction to Bayesian Statistics, 2nd edition (W. M. Bolstad) Asymptotic Theory of Statistics and Probability (A. Dasgupta) Bootstrap Methods: A Guide for Practitioners and Researchers, 2nd edition (M. R. Chernick)     

The base of the Middle Ordovician in China with special reference to the succession at Hengtang near Jiangshan, Zhejiang Province, southern China

Extensive work during the last decade has led to the recent decision by the International Subcommission on Ordovician Stratigraphy that the base of the Middle Ordovician Series should be placed at the base of the Baltoniodus triangularis Conodont Biozone in the Huanghuachang GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) section near Yichang, Hubei Province, China. A review of the biostratigraphy of successions in many parts of China shows that for various reasons, it is currently difficult to recognize the precise boundary level in many regions, and additional studies are clearly needed. A newly exposed, previously poorly known, condensed section in deeperwater facies at Hengtang near Jiangshan in the Chiangnan (Jiangnan) belt has yielded a substantial number of important graptolites and conodonts through the boundary interval. It provides a more informative illustration of the relations between the ranges of several key taxa of these groups than any other section in China, and the level of the base of the Middle Ordovician appears to be within an about 1.8 m thick interval of Ningkuo Formation, and lies in the lower Isograptus caduceus imitatus Biozone.     

Pollen analytical evidence of ‘landnam’ from two Scottish sites

Summary

Stratigraphic, relative pollen analytical data and pollen concentration data are presented from two cores collected from a lowland infilled lake basin in the eastern Scottish Borderlands. The stratigraphic sequence between 1·30 m and 2·16 m shows an oscillation of open water and deep water sediments indicating lake-level changes. This is supported by the pollen analytical data which show a markedly changing pollen sedimentation rate and a hiatus in Flandrian II due to changing lake-levels and an overall reduction in water-level. Supporting evidence is also drawn from Din Moss, a nearby radiocarbon dated profile.     

The Ediacaran Period: a new addition to the geologic time scale

The International Union of Geological Sciences has approved a new addition to the geologic time scale: the Ediacaran Period. The Ediacaran is the first Proterozoic period to be recognized on the basis of chronostratigraphic criteria and the first internationally ratified, chronostratigraphically defined period of any age to be introduced in more than a century. In accordance with procedures established by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, the base of the Ediacaran Period is defined by a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) placed at the base of the Nuccaleena Formation cap carbonate directly above glacial diamictites and associated facies at Enorama Creek in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Its top is defined by the initial GSSP of the Cambrian Period. The new Ediacaran Period encompasses a distinctive interval of Earth history that is bounded both above and below by equally distinctive intervals. Both chemostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data indicate that the subdivision of the period into two or more series is feasible, and this should be a primary objective of continuing work by the Ediacaran Subcommission of the ICS.     

Palynological evidence for 19th century grazing-induced vegetation change in the southern Sierra Nevada, California, U.S.A.

Aim Stratigraphic pollen records are used to assess historic vegetation changes that have transpired in a North American mountain meadow since the introduction of Old World livestock species in the middle 1800s. Location Monache Meadows is located on the Kern Plateau in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, California, U.S.A. It is situated along the upper reaches of the South Fork Kern River in the southernmost drainage basin of the Sierra Nevada. Methods Short core samples of meadow sediments were extracted from five locations throughout Monache Meadows. These five samples are classified according to topographic position within the meadow – two upper meadow sites and three lower meadow sites. Stratigraphic analyses of fossil pollen from each core were used to assess vegetation composition before the introduction of European livestock (pre1850) and throughout the historic period (1850–present). The historic period geochronology is based on ²¹⁰Pb dating of selected strata from each core. Results Riccia was a dominant taxon in the upper meadow before the introduction of grazing; Salix seems to have been more abundant in the lower meadow. Both Riccia and Salix decreased dramatically by c.1900, coeval with marked increases in Artemisia (upper meadow) and Cyperaceae (upper and lower meadows). Main conclusions Changes in meadow vegetation occurring during the latter part of the 19th century at Monache Meadows are attributed primarily to the introduction of European livestock (sheep and cattle). Other factors that may have contributed to the observed shifts in composition and dominance include changes in native herbivore populations and decreased fire frequency as a result of 20th century fire suppression policies.     

strap: an R package for plotting phylogenies against stratigraphy and assessing their stratigraphic congruence

strap (Stratigraphic Tree Analysis for Palaeontology) is a new package for the freely available statistical programming language R designed to perform three main tasks: (1) to time‐scale phylogenies of fossil taxa; (2) to plot those time‐scaled trees against stratigraphy; and (3) to assess congruence between phylogenies and stratigraphy. Time‐scaling is performed with the DatePhylo function, with three approaches offered. Plotting trees against a choice of five different geological time scaless is possible using the geoscalePhylo function. Finally, the function StratPhyloCongruence calculates stratigraphic congruence measures for one or more input phylogenies, with no taxon limit. All three major congruence measures are offered: Stratigraphic Consistency Index (SCI), Manhattan Stratigraphic Measure (MSM*) and the gap excess ratio (GER; including GERt and GER*), as well as the pseudocongruence measure, the Relative Completeness Index (RCI). Each measure has an accompanying significance test that works by comparing the input trees against a user‐defined number of randomly generated topologies with the same taxon set and age ranges. Additional options for generating these random topologies allow the user to fix the outgroup or retain the input tree shape to make fairer comparisons. A tutorial that assumes no prior knowledge of R showcases all three functions using two different example data sets.     

Causal biostratigraphy

Causal biostratigraphy means an approach to stratigraphic problems based on ecosystem analysis of interrelations between geological events and organic evolution. Thc succession of ecosystems is controlled mainly by climatic cycles. Stratigraphic units correspond to palececosystems. The units of higher ranks which are defined by changes of major biomes correspond to paleobiospheres. Their boundaries are designated by replacement of dominant types within the stratoecotones. Reconstruction of catenae, analysis of vicarious catenae systems, and correlation by cliserer are among the most useful methods of causal biostratigraphy.     

Exploring the effects of phylogenetic uncertainty and consensus trees on stratigraphic consistency scores: a new program and a standardized method

The stratigraphic record of first appearances provides an independent source of data for evaluating and comparing phylogenetic hypotheses that include taxa with fossil histories. However, no standardized method exists for calculating these metrics for polytomous phylogenies, restricting their applicability. Previously proposed methods insufficiently deal with this problem because they skew or restrict the resulting scores. To resolve this issue, we propose a standardized method for treating polytomies when calculating these metrics: the Comprehensive Polytomy approach (ComPoly). This approach accurately describes how phylogenetic uncertainty, indicated by polytomies, affects stratigraphic consistency scores. We also present a new program suite (Assistance with Stratigraphic Consistency Calculations) that incorporates the ComPoly approach and simplifies the calculation of absolute temporal stratigraphic consistency metrics. This study also demonstrates that stratigraphic consistency scores calculated from strict consensus trees can be overly inclusive and those calculated from less‐than‐strict consensus trees inaccurately describe the phylogenetic signal present in the source most‐parsimonious trees (MPTs). Therefore, stratigraphic consistency scores should be calculated directly from the source MPTs whenever possible to ensure their accuracy. Finally, we offer recommendations for standardizing comparisons between molecular divergence dates and the stratigraphic record of first appearances, a promising new application of these methods. © The Willi Hennig Society 2010.     

Oligocene vertebrate assemblages in central Kazakhstan: Faunas,biogeography and paleoecology

The history of research in Oligocene paleozoology of Central Kazakhstan is described. Continental Oligocene strata may be recognized on the basis of different Oligocene fossil vertebrates, taking into account the stratigraphic occurrence of mammal genera and species, their belonging to subdivisions of the General Stratigraphic Scale as well as statistical determination of assemblage formation time. At least two stratigraphic levels occur in this region. These are: Saryin (Myneskesuyek, Mogila Saty localities), the lower part of Chelkarnura (Shintuzsay) Svitas (upper half of the Lower Oligocene—Upper Oligocene); and the upper part of Chelkarnura (Chelkar‐Teniz) and Betpakdala (Kyzyl‐Kak) Svitas (Upper Oligocene). Apparently the Chelkar‐Teniz vertebrate assemblage originated in several stages. They require future studies of stratigraphic position of fossils.

Origin and ways of migration of mammalian genera from the Oligocene faunistic assemblages of Central Kazakhstan are discussed.

A preliminary paleoecological study suggests that animals of open and rarefied landscapes dominated in the Myneskesuyek region, the faunistic assemblage of which appears to have been the most ancient. Vertebrate inhabitants of partly open and open, as well as forest habitats probably were present in Chelkar‐Teniz. Animals primarily of forest and scattered woodland dwellers predominated in the Kyzyl‐Kak locality.     

A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES OF SPHENODONTIAN FROM THE GHOST RANCH COELOPHYSIS QUARRY (UPPER TRIASSIC: APACHEAN), ROCK POINT FORMATION, NEW MEXICO, USA

Abstract: We document here a new taxon of sphenodontian, Whitakersaurus bermani gen. et sp. nov., that is also the most complete sphenodontian fossil from the Upper Triassic Chinle Group in the south‐western USA and the first Chinle sphenodontian represented by more than a single fragmentary dentulous element. The holotype was recovered during preparation of block C‐8‐82 from the famous Coelophysis (Whitaker) quarry at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, and is the most complete small vertebrate recovered from the quarry. Detailed lithostratigraphy and geologic mapping demonstrate that the Whitaker quarry is in the Rock Point Formation of the Chinle Group, so Whitakersaurus is the first sphenodontian reported from this unit. Records of the phytosaur Redondasaurus at the quarry and elsewhere in the Chinle Group demonstrate that the quarry, and thus Whitakersaurus, is of Apachean (late Norian–Rhaetian) age. The sphenodontian specimen consists of incomplete left and right dentaries, a partial left? maxilla?, and impressions of a probable palatal element, all of which preserve multiple teeth. Whitakersaurus is distinct from other sphenodontians in possessing a unique combination of the following features: marginal dentition pleurodont anteriorly and posteriorly acrodont; pronounced heterodonty in dentary, with as many as 15 smaller, peg‐like teeth anteriorly and several larger, posterior teeth that are conical and striated; faint radial ornamentation of posterior tooth crowns; presence of c. 19 dentary teeth; and absence of a distinct flange on posterior teeth. Numerous other details distinguish it from both more primitive and more derived taxa. Whitakersaurus, therefore, helps to document further mosaic evolution and an extensive diversification event of sphenodontians during Triassic time. Although sphenodontian taxa are relatively easily recognized, widely distributed, and common small‐ or microvertebrate fossils, the long stratigraphic ranges of taxa known from multiple specimens hinders their utility as index fossils with which to correlate strata across Pangaea.     

An Introduction to Statistical Inference and Its Applications with R by TROSSET,M. W.

An Introduction to Statistical Inference and Its Applications with R (M. W. Trosset) W. N. Venables ROC Curves for Continuous Data (W. J. Krzanowski and D. J. Hand) Lori E. Dodd A Guide to QTL Mapping with R/qtl (K. W. Broman and S. Sen) R. W. Doerge Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials with Time‐to‐Event Endpoint (K. E. Peace, ed.) Yu Shyr Translational Medicine: Strategies and Statistical Methods (D. Cosmatos and S.‐C. Chow) Yongzhao Shao Clinical Prediction Models: A Practical Approach to Development, Validation and Updating (E. W. Steyerberg) Rumana Omar Maximized Penalized Likelihood Estimation: Volume II: Regression (P. P. Eggermont and V. N. LaRicca) Hao Zhang Morphometrics with R (J. Claude) Alfred Kume Statistical Analysis of Network Data: Methods and Models (E. D. Kolaczyk) Crystal Linkletter