The Holocene, which currently spans similar to 11 700 years, is the shortest series/epoch within the geological time scale (GTS), yet it contains a rich archive of evidence in stratigraphical contexts that are frequently continuous and often preserved at high levels of resolution. On 14 June 2018, the Executive Committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences formally ratified a proposal to subdivide the Holocene into three stages/ages, along with their equivalent subseries/subepochs, each anchored by a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). The new stages are the Greenlandian (Lower/Early Holocene Subseries/Subepoch) with its GSSP in the Greenland NGRIP2 ice core and dated at 11 700 a b2k (before 2000 CE); the Northgrippian (Middle Holocene Subseries/Subepoch) with its GSSP in the Greenland NGRIP1 ice core and dated at 8236 a b2k; and the Meghalayan (Upper/Late Holocene Subseries/Subepoch) with its GSSP in a speleothem from Mawmluh Cave, north-eastern India, with a date of 4250 a b2k. We explain the nomenclature of the new divisions, describe the procedures involved in the ratification process, designate auxiliary stratotypes to support the GSSPs and consider the implications of the subdivision for defining the Anthropocene as a new unit within the GTS.
1.Univ Wales, Trinity St David, Sch Archaeol Hist & Anthropol, Lampeter, Dyfed, Wales 2.Aberystwyth Univ, Dept Geog & Earth Sci, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, Wales 3.Brock Univ, Dept Earth Sci, St Catharines, ON, Canada 4.Royal Holloway Univ London, Dept Geog, Ctr Quaternary Res, Egham, Surrey, England 5.Univ Illinois, Dept Earth & Environm Sci, Chicago, IL USA 6.Lund Univ, Dept Geol, Quaternary Sci, Lund, Sweden 7.Xi An Jiao Tong Univ, Inst Global Change, Xian, Shaanxi, Peoples R China 8.Univ Minnesota, Dept Earth Sci, Minneapolis, MN USA 9.Univ New Brunswick, Dept Biol, Fredericton, NB, Canada 10.Univ Ottawa, Dept Earth Sci, Ottawa, ON, Canada 11.Univ Copenhagen, Niels Bohr Inst, Ctr Ice & Climate, Copenhagen, Denmark 12.Univ Durham, Dept Geog, Durham, England 13.Victoria Univ Wellington, Sch Geog Environm & Earth Sci, Wellington, New Zealand 14.Yale Univ, Sch Forestry & Environm Studies, New Haven, CT USA
Recommended Citation:
Walker, Mike,Head, Martin J.,Lowe, John,et al. Subdividing the Holocene Series/Epoch: formalization of stages/ages and subseries/subepochs, and designation of GSSPs and auxiliary stratotypes[J]. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE,2019-01-01,34(3):173-186