DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO PERFECTION OF THE GENERAL STRATIGRAPHIC SCALE

Abstract

Different approaches (American and European) to perfection of the General stratigraphic scale (GSS) are discussed. Practice of the International Stratigraphic Commission that consists, according to recommendations of "International guides," in "hammering in the golden spikes" (GSSP) in rock sequences of monotonous lithology at the levels marked by changes in composition of fossil species (mainly conodonts), which are thought to be evolutionary and independent of the environmental influence, is criticized. Boundaries between series of the Devonian System and between the Permian and Triassic systems are considered as examples, and it is shown that such an approach to recognition of boundaries between major stratigraphic subdivisions violates the priority principle and eventually leads to destabilization and complete reorganization of the GSS. Principles used to specify the GSS are not only of the abstract theoretical interest, but they directly influence practice of geological mapping and other geological investigations.