The Science plan to be completed before the year 2012 will be as follows:
- Formalisation of Global Stratotype section and Points (GSSP) for the Lower/Middle and for the Middle/Upper subseries/subepoch boundaries of the Pleistocene Series/Epoch. The formal nomenclature for the subseries/subepoch divisions of the Pleistocene will be Lower/Early, Middle/Mid, and Upper/Late.
- Formalisation of a GSSP for the base of the Holocene Series/Epoch.- completed!
- An international correlation chart for the most commonly used regional stratigraphic units and isotope stages. No international stage-level subdivisions for the Pleistocene or Holocene will be formalised. – completed!
- The voting members, and make-up of each GSSP task group, should strive to provide a uniform coverage of terrestrial, shallow-marine and pelagic settings with global coverage.
- Progress and discussions within the Subcommission will be summarised through the SQS website.
The ocean sediment geologist, Professor J. McManus (Lamont-Doherty Institute, Columbia University, USA) is first vice-chair and the vertebrate biostratigrapher, Professor Th. van Kolfschoten (Leiden) as secretary. Together the officers “will compile a list of active persons willing to act as voting members. The latter will consist of individuals who will represent the widest-possible range of Quaternary stratigraphical expertise and will include no more than two persons from each geographical region”. It is planned to communicate the names of the majority of these individuals by the end of the year; at the time of writing 18 people have agreed to act as voting members.
P.L.Gibbard
Chair SQS 22.11.08
modified 15.7.10