International Union of Geological Sciences 

 

 
 

June

 

30,

 

2009

 

 
 

Prof.

 

Paul

 

R.

 

Bown,

 

Secretary,

 

International

 

Commission

 

on

 

Stratigraphy

 

(ICS)

 

Department

 

of

 

Geological

 

Sciences

 

University

 

College

 

London

 

Gower

 

Street

 

London

 

WC1E

 

6BT

 

United

 

Kingdom

 

 
 

RE:

  

Ratification

 

of

 

the

 

definition

 

of

 

the

 

base

 

of

 

Quaternary

 

System/Period

 

(and

 

top

 

of

 

the

 

Neogene

 

System/Period),

 

and

 

redefinition

 

of

 

the

 

base

 

of

 

the

 

Pleistocene

 

Series/Epoch

 

(and

 

top

 

of

 

the

 

Pliocene

 

Series/Epoch).

 

 

Dear

 

Professor

 

Bown,

  

 

This

 

is

 

to

 

confirm

 

the

 

receipt

 

of

 

your

 

Commission’s

 

request

 

of

 

June

 

2,

 

2009

 

for

 

ratification

 

of

 

its

 

recommendation

 

that:

 

 

1)

 

the

 

base

 

of

 

the

 

Pleistocene

 

Series/Epoch

 

be

 

lowered

 

such

 

that

 

the

 

Pleistocene

 

includes

 

the

 

Gelasian

 

Stage/Age

 

and

 

its

 

base

 

is

 

defined

 

by

 

the

 

Monte

 

San

 

Nicola

 

GSSP,

 

which

 

also

 

defines

 

the

 

base

 

of

 

the

 

Gelasian;

  

2)

 

 

the

 

base

 

of

 

the

 

Quaternary

 

System/Period,

 

and

 

thus

 

the

 

Neogene

‐

Quaternary

 

boundary,

 

be

 

formally

 

defined

 

by

 

the

 

Monte

 

San

 

Nicola

 

GSSP

 

and

 

thus

 

be

 

coincident

 

with

 

the

 

bases

 

of

 

the

 

Pleistocene

 

and

 

Gelasian,

 

and

  

3)

 

with

 

these

 

definitions,

 

the

 

Gelasian

 

Stage/Age

 

be

 

transferred

 

from

 

the

 

Pliocene

 

Series/Epoch

 

to

 

the

 

Pleistocene.

 

 

I

 

am

 

pleased

 

to

 

report

 

that

 

these

 

recommendations

 

were

 

approved

 

by

 

a

 

majority

 

vote

 

of

 

the

 

IUGS

 

Executive

 

Committee

 

on

 

29

 

June

 

2009.

  

 

Sincerely

 

yours,

 

 

 
 
 
 

Prof.

 

Alberto

 

C.

 

Riccardi

 

President

 

International

 

Union

 

of

 

Geological

 

Sciences

 

 

cc:

  

Stan

 

Finney,

 

President,

 

ICS

 

      

Shanchi

 

Peng,

 

Vice

 

President,

 

ICS

 

         

IUGS

 

Executive

 

Committee

 

 
 

 
 

www.iugs.org

 

 
President: 
Prof. Alberto C. Riccardi 
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo 
Universidad Nacional de la Plata 
Paseo del Bosque s/n 
1900 La Plata, ARGENTINA 
Tel:+54 221 425 7744/9161/9638. Ext.114 
Fax:+54 221 425 7527 
riccardi@museo.fcnym.unlp.edu.ar 
 
Secretary General: 
Dr. Peter Bobrowsky 
Geological Survey of Canada 
601 Booth Street 
Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA K1A0E8 
Tel:+1 613 947 0333 
Fax:+1 613 992 0190 
pbobrows@nrcan.gc.ca 
 
Treasurer: 
Prof. William Cavazza 
Dept. of Earth and 
Geoenvironmental Sciences 
University of Bologna 
Piazza di Porta San Donato 1 
IT-40126 Bologna, ITALY 
Tel:+39 0512094939 
Fax:+39 0512094904 
william.cavazza@unibo.it 
 
Past President: 
Prof. Zhang Hongren (China) 
 
Vice Presidents: 
Prof. Jacques Charvet (France) 
Prof. Ochir Gerel (Mongolia) 
 
Councillors: 
Acad. Mikhail A. Fedonkin (Russia) 
Prof. Marta Mantovani (Brazil) 
Prof. Ezzoura Errami (Morocco) 
Mr. Colin Simpson (Australia) 
 
_________ 
 
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