PECULIAR FEATURES OF TYPIFICATION IN STRATIGRAPHIC CLASSIFICATION

Abstract

Peculiar features of typification in stratigraphy, i.e., the regulation of the entitative aspect of a stratigraphic unit and its legalization in the stratotype, were analyzed. These procedures inevitably led to the repudiation of the hierarchical principle in typification, which made the priority principle an obstacle to the elaboration and perfection of stratigraphic classification. These peculiar features of typification took shape in parallel with the strengthening of the chronostratigraphic paradigm. An analogy with biological systematization is used to show a possible way to solve the problem. A revision of the typification system in stratigraphy is proposed to make it similar to that in biology.