The Quaternary System/Period: current status and future challenges

Authors

  • Martin J. Head Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada
  • Philip L. Gibbard Cambridge Quaternary, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EN, England, U.K.
  • Thijs van Kolfschoten Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

Abstract

The Quaternary System/Period represents the past 2.58 million years and is officially subdivided into the Pleistocene and Holocene series/epochs, with the base of the Holocene assigned an age of 11,700 calendar years before AD 2000. The two lowest stages of the Pleistocene, the Gelasian (base 2.58 Ma) and the Calabrian (base 1.80 Ma), have been officially defined and these effectively constitute the Lower Pleistocene Subseries/Subepoch. The Middle and Upper Pleistocene have yet to be formally defined, representing an important future challenge along with the subdivision of the Holocene, consideration of the Anthropocene, and fine-scale subdivision elsewhere within the Quaternary. Keywords: Quaternary, Pleistocene, Holocene, Anthropocene, GSSP

Author Biographies

Martin J. Head, Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada

Chair, ICS Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy

Philip L. Gibbard, Cambridge Quaternary, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EN, England, U.K.

President, SACCOM INQUA,

Thijs van Kolfschoten, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

Secretary, SACCOM INQUA

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Published

2013-07-26

Issue

Vol. 18 (2013)

Section

Articles

License

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