STRATIGRAPHY

Definition:

What? Description of all rock bodies forming the Earth’s crust and
their organization into distinctive, useful, mappable units

How? Based on their inherent properties or attributes

Why? In order to establish their distribution and relationship in space

and their succession in time, and to interpret geologic history.

Rocks may be classified according to many tangible and measurable

properties. Rocks may also be classified by their time of origin or
interpreted attributes, such as environment of genesis.
 Principles of Stratigraphic Correlation

• Uniformitarianism – James Hutton, Charles Lyell

• Law of Superposition – Nicolaus Steno

• Principle of Original Horizontality

• Principle of Lateral Continuity

• Principal of Cross-cutting Relationship – James Hutton

• Principle of Faunal Succession – William Smith

 Categories of Stratigraphic Classification

Lithostratigraphic units — units based on the lithologic properties of the

rock bodies.

Unconformity-bounded units — bodies of rock bounded above and

below by significant discontinuities in the stratigraphic succession.

Biostratigraphic units — units based on the fossil content of the rock

bodies.

Magnetostratigraphic polarity units — units based on changes in the

orientation of the remanent magnetization of the rock bodies.

Chronostratigraphic units — units based on the time of formation of the

rock bodies.
 Stratigraphic Categories Principal Stratigraphic
Unit-terms
Lithostratigraphic Group
Formation
Member
Bed(s), Flow(s)
Unconformity-bounded Synthem (Sequence)
Biostratigraphic Biozones:
Range zones
Interval zones
Lineage zones
Assemblage zones
Abundance zones
Other kinds of biozones
Magnetostratigraphic polarity Polarity zone

Other (informal) stratigraphic - Zone (with appropriate

categories (mineralogic, prefix)
stable isotope,
environmental, seismic, etc.)
Chronostratigraphi Equivalent
c Geochronologic
Unit-terms Units
Eonothem Eon
Erathem Era
System Period
Series Epoch
Stage Age
Substage Subage
(Chronozone) (Chron)
EONS
PHANEROZOIC TIME PIE
 Stratotypes and Type Localities
 Stratotype (type section): The designated exposure of a
named layered stratigraphic unit or of a stratigraphic boundary
that serves as the standard of reference. A stratotype is the
specific stratal sequence used for the definition and/or
characterization of the stratigraphic unit or boundary being
defined.
 Unit-stratotype: The type section of a layered stratigraphic
unit that serves as the standard of reference for the definition
and characterization of the unit.
 Boundary-Stratotype: The specified sequence of strata that
contains the specific point that defines a boundary between
two stratigraphic units.
 Composite-Stratotype: A unit-stratotype formed by the
combination of several specified intervals of strata combined
to make a composite standard of reference.
 Type Locality: The specific geographic locality where the
stratotype of a layered stratigraphic unit is situated. The name
also refers to the locality where the unit was originally
described and/or named. In the case of units composed of
non-layered igneous or metamorphic rocks, the type locality is
the specific geographic locality where the unit was originally
defined.
 Type Area or Type Region: The geographic area or region
that encompasses the stratotype or type locality of a
stratigraphic unit or boundary.
 Holo-, para-, neo-, lecto-, and hypostratotypes.
• Holostratotype: the original stratotype designated by the original
author at the time of proposing a stratigraphic unit or boundary.

• Parastratotype: a supplementary stratotype used in the original

definition by the original author to illustrate the diversity or
heterogeneity of the defined stratigraphic unit or some critical
feature not evident or exposed in the holostratotype.

• Lectostratotype: a stratotype for a previously described

stratigraphic unit selected later in the absence of an adequately
designated original stratotype (holostratotype).

• Neostratotype: a new stratotype selected to replace an older one

which has been destroyed, covered, or otherwise made
inaccessible.

• Hypostratotype: a stratotype proposed after the original

designation of the holostratotype (and parastratotype) in order to
extend knowledge of the unit or boundary to other geographic
areas. It is always subordinate to the holostratotype.
 GSSP and GSSA
GSSP or Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point is an
internationally agreed upon stratigraphic section which serves as
the reference section for a particular boundary on the geologic time
scale. Most, but not all, GSSPs are based
on paleontological changes. Hence GSSPs are usually described
in terms of transitions between different faunal stages, though far
more faunal stages have been described than GSSPs.

GSSP is the designated type of stratigraphic boundary identified in

published form and marked in the section as a specific point in a
specific sequence of rock strata and constituting the standard for
the definition and recognition of the stratigraphic boundary between
two named global stratigraphic (chronostratigraphic) units.
GSSA or Global Standard Stratigraphic Age
- refers to the boundaries on the geologic time
scale defined simply by reference to fixed dates
- before 630 million years ago defining a GSSP is
more difficult as it is very hard to (1) find well-
preserved geologic sections and (2) identify key
events
GSSP Rules
Requirements for establishing a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) - revised from Remane et
al. (1996) according to current procedures and recommendations of the IUGS International Commission on
Stratigraphy (ICS).
1. Name and stratigraphic rank of the boundary
Including concise statement of GSSP definition
2. GSSP geographic and physical geology:
Geographic location, including map coordinates;
Precise location and stratigraphic position of GSSP level and specific point
Stratigraphic completeness across the GSSP level
Adequate thickness and stratigraphic extent of section above and below
Accessibility, including logistics, national politics and property rights
Provisions for conservation and protection
3. Primary and secondary markers
Principal correlation event (marker) at GSSP level
Other primary and secondary markers – biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, chemical stratigraphy,
sequence stratigraphy, cycle stratigraphy, other event stratigraphy, marine-land correlation potential
Potential age dating from volcanic ashes and/or orbital tuning
Demonstration of regional and global correlation
4. Summary of selection process
Relation of the GSSP to historical usage; references to historical background and adjacent (stage) units;
selected publications
Other candidates and reasons for rejection; Summary of votes and received comments
Other useful reference sections
5. Official publication
Summary for full documentation in IUGS journal Episodes
Digital stratigraphy (lith, paleo, mag, chem.). images & graphic files submitted to ICS for public archive
Full publication (if not in Episodes) in an appropriate journal
 Stage Numerical GSSP Location Latitude Boundary Correlation Status Reference
Age (Ma) & Level Events
Longitude
Olenekian 251.2 Candidate GSSP 31.9654°N base of Conodont FAD Ratification Albertiana
Stage Mud (Muth) 78.0246°E Bed 13A- Neospathodus Anticipated 36, 2007
village, Spiti 2, about waageni, just
valley, northwest 4.8m up in above base of
India Mikin Rohillites
Formation. rohilla
, Section ammonite
M04 zone, and
(~4000 m below lowest
elevation) occurrence of
Flemingites
and
Euflemingites
ammonite
genera. Within
a prominent
positive
Carbon-13
peak, and just
above widely
recognizable
sequence
boundary.
 Lithostratigraphy
• Lithostratigraphy. The element of stratigraphy that deals with the
description and nomenclature of the rocks of the Earth based on their
lithology and their stratigraphic relations.

• Lithostratigraphic classification. The organization of rock bodies into

units on the basis of their lithologic properties and their stratigraphic
relations.

• Lithostratigraphic unit. A body of rocks, bedded or unbedded, that is

defined and recognized on the basis of its lithologic properties or
combination of lithologic properties and stratigraphic relations.

A lithostratigraphic unit may consist of sedimentary, or igneous, or

metamorphic rocks.
Lithostratigraphic units are defined and recognized by observable physical
features and not by their inferred age, the time span they represent, inferred
geologic history, or manner of formation.
The geographic extent of a lithostratigraphic unit is controlled entirely by the
continuity and extent of its diagnostic lithologic features.
The conventional hierarchy of formal lithostratigraphic terms is as
follows:

Group — two or more formations

Formation — primary unit of lithostratigraphy
Member — named lithologic subdivision of a formation
Bed — named distinctive layer in a member or formation
Flow — smallest distinctive layer in a volcanic sequence

The component units of any higher rank unit in the hierarchy need not
be everywhere the same.

Formation is the primary formal unit of lithostratigraphic classification.

Formations are the only formal lithostratigraphic units into which the
stratigraphic column everywhere should be divided completely on the
basis of lithology.
 Formation
- A body of material that can be identified by its lithological
characteristics and stratigraphic position.
- Must be traceable laterally, i.e., it must be mappable at the surface
or subsurface.
- Should have some degree of lithological homogeneity.
- Defining characteristics, in addition to the lithological composition,
may include mineralogical, composition, texture, primary
sedimentary structures and fossil content.
- Its thickness may vary from less than a meter to several thousand
meters.
- A formation may be, and often is, a diachronous unit, i.e., a deposit
with the same lithological properties that was formed in different
times in different places.
 Member
- It has lithological properties distinguishing it from adjacent parts of
the formation.
- No fixed standard required for the extent & thickness of a member.
- A formation need not be divided into members unless a useful
purpose is thus served.
- A member may extend from one formation to another.
- Specially shaped forms of member (or formation) are lenses and
tongues.

Lens – a lens-shaped body of rock of different lithology than the unit

that encloses it.

Tounge – a projecting part of a lithostratigraphic unit extending out

beyond its main body.
 Bed & Flow
- A BED is a single stratum lithologically distinguishable from other
layers above and below. It is the smallest recognizable stratigraphic
unit.
- Beds may have economic significance or be useful in correlation
because of their easily recognizable characteristics across an area.
- A FLOW is a discrete extrusive volcanic body distinguishable by
texture, composition or other objective criteria.
 Group
- A GROUP is a succession of two or more contiguous or associated
formations with significant and diagnostic lithological properties in
common.
- Formations need not be aggregated into groups unless doing so
provides a useful means of simplifying stratigraphic classification in
certain regions or certain intervals.
- Thickness of a succession is not a valid reason for defining a unit as
a group rather than a formation.
- The component formations of a group need not be everywhere the
same.
- Groups are commonly bounded by unconformities.
 Supergroup and Complex
- SUPERGROUP may refer to several associated groups or for
associated groups and formations with significant lithological
properties in common.
- COMPLEX is a lithostratigraphic unit composed of diverse types of
any class or classes or rocks (I-S-M) and characterized by
irregularly mixed lithology or by highly complicated structural
relations.

Lithostratigraphic horizon or Lithohorizon is a surface of

lithostratigraphic change, commonly the boundary of a
lithostratigraphic unit, or a lithologically distinctive very thin marker
bed within a lithostratigraphic unit.
 Biostratigraphy
1. Biostratigraphy. The element of stratigraphy that deals with the distribution of fossils
in the stratigraphic record and the organization of strata into units on the basis of their
contained fossils.
2. Biostratigraphic Classification. The systematic subdivision and organization of the
stratigraphic section into named units based on their fossil content.
3. Biostratigraphic zone (Biozone). A general term for any kind of biostratigraphic unit
regardless of thickness or geographic extent. After initial usage of a formal term, such
as the Globigerina brevis Taxon-range Biozone, a simplified version of the formal
nomenclature may be used, e.g. Globerigina brevis Zone. Biozones vary greatly in
thickness, geographic extent, and represented time span.
4. Biostratigraphic horizon (Biohorizon). A stratigraphic boundary, surface, or interface
across which there is a significant change in biostratigraphic character. A biohorizon
has no thickness and should not be used to describe very thin stratigraphic units that
are especially distinctive.
5. Subbiozone (Subzone). A subdivision of a biozone.
6. Superbiozone (Superzone). A grouping of two or more biozones with related
biostratigraphic attributes.
7. Zonule. The use of this term is discouraged. It has received different meanings and is
now generally used as a subdivision of a biozone or subbiozone.
8. Barren intervals. Stratigraphic intervals with no fossils common in the stratigraphic
section.
• Fossil assemblages: Four kinds of intervals are found in sedimentary rocks:

1. Strata without fossils;

2. Strata containing organisms that lived and were buried in the area
(biocoenosis);
3. Strata containing organisms that lived somewhere else and were brought into
the area after death (thanatocoenosis);
4. Strata that contain organisms transported alive away from their normal
environment. These may be mixed or interbedded in any proportion.

• All categories of fossil-bearing strata may be the basis for biostratigraphic

zonation. Intervals lacking identifiable fossils or entirely without fossils are not
subject to biostratigraphic classification.

• Reworked fossils: Fossils from rocks of one age that have been eroded,
transported, and redeposited in sediments of a younger age. Because of the
difference in their significance with respect to age and environment, they
should be treated apart from those believed to be indigenous.
• Introduced or infiltrated fossils: Fossils introduced into older or younger
rocks by fluids, through animal burrows or root cavities, or by sedimentary
dikes or diapirs.They should be distinguished from indigenous fossils in
biostratigraphic zonation.
• Effects of stratigraphic condensation: Extremely low rates of
sedimentation may result in fossils of different ages and different
environments being mingled or very intimately associated in a very thin
stratigraphic interval, even in a single bed.

Biozones:

Range zones
Interval zones
Lineage zones
Assemblage zones
Abundance zones
1) Range Zone: The body of strata representing the known stratigraphic
and geographic range of occurrence of a particular taxon or combination of
two taxa of any rank.
a. Taxon-range Zone: The body of strata representing the known range of
stratigraphic and geographic occurrence of specimens of a particular taxon.
It is the sum of the documented occurrences in all individual sections and
localities from which the particular taxon has been identified.

The boundaries of a taxon-range zone in any one section are the

horizons of lowest stratigraphic occurrence and highest
stratigraphic occurrence of the specified taxon in that section.
b. Concurrent-range Zone: The body of strata including the overlapping
parts of the range zones of two specified taxa. This type of zone may
include taxa additional to those specified as characterizing elements of the
zone, but only the two specified taxa are used to define the boundaries of
the zone.

The boundaries of a concurrent-range zone are defined in any particular

stratigraphic section by the lowest stratigraphic occurrence of the
higher-ranging of the two defining taxa and the highest stratigraphic
occurrence of the lower-ranging of the two defining taxa.
2) Interval Zone: The body of fossiliferous strata between two specified
biohorizons. Such a zone is not itself necessarily the range zone of a taxon
or concurrence of taxa; it is defined and identified only on the basis of its
bounding biohorizons.
3) Lineage Zone: The body of strata containing specimens representing a
specific segment of an evolutionary lineage. It may represent the entire
range of a taxon within a lineage or only that part of the range of the taxon
below the appearance of a descendant taxon

The boundaries
of a lineage
zone are
determined by
the biohorizons
representing the
lowest
occurrence of
successive
elements of the
evolutionary
lineage under
consideration.
5) Assemblage Zone: The body of strata characterized by an assemblage
of three or more fossil taxa that, taken together, distinguishes it in
biostratigraphic character from adjacent strata.

The boundaries of an assemblage zone are drawn at biohorizons marking

the limits of occurrence of the specified assemblage that is characteristic of
the unit. Not all members of the assemblage need to occur in order for a
section to be assigned to an assemblage zone, and the total range of any of
its constituents may extend beyond the boundaries of the zone.
6) Abundance Zone: The body of strata in which the abundance of a
particular taxon or specified group of taxa is significantly greater than is
usual in the adjacent parts of the section. Unusual abundance of a taxon or
taxa in the stratigraphic record may result from a number of processes that
are of local extent, but may be repeated in different places at different times.
For this reason, the only sure way to identify an abundance zone is to trace
it laterally.

The boundaries of an abundance zone are defined by the biohorizons

across which there is notable change in the abundance of the specified
taxon or taxa that characterize the zone.
 UNCONFORMITY-BOUNDED UNITS

• Unconformity-bounded unit is a body of rocks bounded above

and below by specifically designated, significant
discontinuities in the stratigraphic succession preferably of
regional or interregional extent.

• They are composed of diverse types of any kind or kinds of

rocks, but the lithologic properties of these rocks, their fossil
content, or the chronostratigraphic span of the rocks on either
side of the bounding unconformities are significant only to the
extent that they serve to recognize the bounding
unconformities.

• Unconformity-bounded units are objective stratigraphic units

established and identified without regard for the genetic or
causal interpretation of their bounding unconformities.
The term "synthem" as used to designate unconformity
bounded units has received very limited acceptance and
use since first proposed by Chang in 1975, and
subsequently discussed in several ISSC* publications.

It may be preferable, therefore, to discard "synthem" and

employ the widely used term "sequence" not only as the
basic unit of sequence stratigraphy, but also to designate
all stratigraphic units totally or partly bounded by
unconformities.

*ISSC – International Sub-commission on Stratigraphic Classification

of IUGS International Commission on Stratigraphy
 MAGNETOSTRATIGRAPHIC POLARITY UNITS

Magnetostratigraphy: The element of stratigraphy that

deals with the magnetic characteristics of rock bodies.
Magnetostratigraphic classification: The organization of
rock bodies into units based on differences in magnetic
character.
Magnetostratigraphic unit (magnetozone): A body of
rocks unified by similar magnetic characteristics which
allow it to be differentiated from adjacent rock bodies.
 Magnetostratigraphic polarity units have been
established in two ways:
1) combining the determination of the orientation of the
remanent magnetization of sedimentary or volcanic
rocks from outcrops or cored sections with their age
determined by isotopic or biostratigraphic methods;
2) through the use of shipboard magnetometer profiles from
ocean surveys to identify and correlate linear magnetic
anomalies that are interpreted as reflecting reversals of
the Earth’s magnetic field, recorded in the lava of the sea
floor during the seafloor-spreading process.
Magnetostratigraphic Polarity-Reversal Horizons are
surfaces or thin transition intervals across which the
magnetic polarity reverses.
Where the polarity change takes place through a
substantial interval of strata, of the order of 1 m in
thickness, the term Magnetostratigraphic Polarity
Transition-Zone should be used.
Magnetostratigraphic polarity zones may consist of bodies
of strata unified by
1)a single polarity of magnetization;
2)an intricate alternation of normal and reversed polarity of
magnetization;
3)having dominantly either normal or reversed polarity, but
with minor intervals of the opposite polarity.
 CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY
Chronostratigraphy: The element of stratigraphy that deals with
the relative time relations and ages of rock bodies.
Chronostratigraphic classification: The organization of rocks
into units on the basis of their age or time of origin.
Chronostratigraphic unit: A body of rocks that includes all
rocks formed during a specific interval of geologic time, and only
those rocks formed during that time span. Chronostratigraphic
units are bounded by synchronous horizons. The rank and
relative magnitude of the units in the chronostratigraphic
hierarchy are a function of the length of the time interval that
their rocks subtend, rather than of their physical thickness.
Chronostratigraphic horizon (Chronohorizon): A stratigraphic
surface or interface that is synchronous, everywhere of the same
age.
 Quaternary is 1.64 m.y. old… How can you say that!!
Cenozoic is just 65.5 m.y ?!
and ticking…..

Chronostratigraphic Equivalent Approximate

Unit-terms Geochronologic Units Time Span
Eonothem Eon > 500 m.y.
Erathem Era > 100 m.y.
System Period ~ 30 to 80 m.y.
Series Epoch ~ 13 to 35 m.y.
Stage Age ~ 2 to 10 m.y.
Substage Subage
(Chronozone) (Chron)
Chronostratigraphic Equivalent
Unit-terms Geochronologic Units
Eonothem Eon
Erathem Era
System Period
Series Epoch
Stage Age
Substage Subage

Chronostratigraphic Equivalent
Unit-terms Geochronologic
Units
Every Everyone
MNEMONIC Erased Eradicated
System Polio
Seriously Easily
Should After
Submerge Shots