ACTIVITIES OF THE

INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY

 

                             1997 THROUGH 2003 ACTIVITIES

 

A. MEETINGS

 

(1) Avalon 1997 - The Cambrian Standard

Avalon 1997, organized by E. Landing and S. R. Westrop, was the 3rd International Conference on Cambrian subdivisions and the official meeting of the Cambrian Stage Subdivision Working Group. It was held in association with I.G.C.P. Project 366 (Ecological Aspects of the Cambrian Radiation) in southeastern Newfoundland and New Brunswick, 11-21 August, 1997. A first ISCS meeting was held during the conference in St. John, New Brunswick. This meeting was attended by the ISCS Chairman and the First Vice-Chairman of the ISCS as well as a number of Canadian and Australian Voting Members.

A special volume generated for this meeting is:

Landing, E. and S. R. Westrop (eds.) 1998. AVALON 1997 - The Cambrian Standard. Third International Field Trip of the Working Group on Cambrian Chronostratigraphy and I.U.G.S. Project 366. New York State Museum Bulletin 492. 96 p., 29 figs.

This volume includes Introduction; a comprehensive, illustrated field trip guide to the latest Precambrian-lowest Ordovician of eastern Newfoundland and southern New Brunswick by E. Landing and S. R. Westrop; a revision of the Cambrian stratigraphic nomenclature and sequence stratigraphy of the Cambrian of Avalonian North America with a comparison with Avalonian Britain by E. Landing and S. R. Westrop; and seven abstracts of oral presentations. Contact Dr. Ed Landing, NYS Geological Survey, The State Education Department, Albany, NY 12230, E-mail elanding@museum.nysed.gov, for price and ordering information.

 

(2) The Second International Trilobite Conference

The Second International Trilobite Conference, organized by S. R. Westrop, was held at Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, 22-25 August, 1997. More than 20 ISCS members (including the Chairman and the Secretary) attended the meeting, and many of the presentations were relevant to the ISCS objectives. Abstracts with Program are planned to be published as a separate volume (J. Adrain & S. R. Westrop, eds.). A special volume with transactions was published in the Journal of Paleontology series (Vol. 74, Number 2, 1999). The Second International Trilobite Conference saw a Subcommission meeting. Its agenda included a report on the Avalon 1997 meeting, progress in intercontinental chronostratigraphic correlation, and activities of the Laurentian Stages working group (A. R. Palmer, speaker).

 

(3) A field trip to the southern part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, created as a pre-meeting excursion to the Second International Trilobite Conference, took place 15-20 August 1997 (organized and lead by B. D. E. Chatterton and B. Pratt). It provided opportunity to visit a number of Cambrian sections that are crucial not only for the regional stratigraphy. For most participants it meant a pilgrimage to the Burgess Shale quarries, Stephen Formation, in Yoho National Park. The party was hosted at the Burgess quarries by the excavation crew of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, with their head, D. Collins. Dr. Collins presented material of the 1997 field season on Walcott quarry. Among the participants were a few members of the ISCS (including the Secretary). D. Collins and T. Fletcher, who actively participated in the excavations, are also members of the ISCS.

 

(4) The Second Friends of the Alum Shales Meeting was held on Vestergötland, Sweden, between 26-30 May 1997. It was organized by Per Ahlberg and Euan Clarkson and hosted members of the ISCS.

 

(5) A. R. Palmer proposed a complete set of Cambrian stages for Laurentia the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (1998). The issue focuses on a late Early Cambrian stage for Laurentia; a significant contribution to the debate on Cambrian Stages and their potential intercontinental correlation. This article will be used as a basis for a forthcoming Laurentia-South America contribution of the Cambrian Correlations Working Group.

 

(6) 4th Field Conference of the Cambrian Stage Subdivision Working Group
The 4th Field Conference of the Cambrian Stage Subdivision Working Group was held in Sweden, August 24-31, 1998, organized by Per Ahlberg. Field excursions took place in Scania and Västergötland. Fifteen ISCS members (including the Chairman) attended the meeting. Most of the presentations held during the scientific sessions on August 27-28 were relevant to the ISCS objectives. In addition, a Subcommission meeting took place on during the conference on August 28, 1998. This meeting focused on Cambrian global correlation levels and possible chronostratigraphic units as well as a comprehensive correlation table presented by J. H. Shergold. The abstracts for this meeting were published as a Lunds Publications in Geology volume (P. Ahlberg, M. Eriksson & I. Olsson, eds.). An excursion guide was published separately as a Lunds Publications in Geology volume (P. Ahlberg, ed.).

 

(7) "Evolution of Animal Body Plans and Their Fossil Record"

The International Symposium on the "Evolution of Animal Body Plans and Their Fossil Record" was held 20-25 June, 1999, at the Spring Hotel on the Fuxian Lake near Kunming, P.R. China under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The marvellous fossil site at classical Maotian near Chengjiang and other localities of the Chengjiang fauna were visited during the Symposium. An pre-symposium excursion (June 13-19, 1999) offered a trip to the Precambrian fossil site at Weng-an and to the Lower Cambrian fossil site at Zhijiang, Guizhou. A post-symposium excursion visit the Dali and Lijiang sites in northwestern Yunnan. The symposium was organized by Prof. Junyuan Chen, Early Life Research Centre, Department of Biology, Sanjiacun, P. R. China.

 

(8) Field excursions in South China in 1999 were organized by Prof. Dr. Yu Chang Min, 39 Beijing Dong Road, 210008 Nanjing, P. R. China. The excursions included a seven-day field trip to the Guizhou Province and a five-day field-trip in Guilin, Guangxi Autonomous Region of Zhuang). Of particular interest for ISCS members and Cambrian studies were:

·        Field excursion on Paleozoic to Triassic biostratigraphy, mainly in the neritic facies in the Guizhou Province (sponsored by the National Nature Science Foundation of China, NNSFC), August 31-September 6, 1999.

·        The Guizhou Province is part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Platform and hinterland of Southwestern China. Precambrian to Silurian strata are well developed and exposed in the northern and easten parts of the province, whereas the Late Paleozoic and the marine Triassic strata (generally carbonatic) are mainly in central and southern Guizhou. Reference sections of Paleozoic to Triassic strata include mainly neritic facies and some well known fossil localities and reef complexes.

(9) 5th Field Conference of the Cambrian Subdivisions Working Group

The 5th Field Conference of the Cambrian Subdivisions Working Group took place September 14-23, 1999, organized by Dr. A. R. Palmer (Institute of Cambrian Studies, Boulder, CO. It visited proposed Lower to lower Middle Cambrian Laurentian Stage Boundary Sections in Nevada, U.S.A. as well as sites/sections in Utah, Nevada, and California that show the stratotype or parastratotype basal boundaries of the newly proposed Cambrian stages for Laurentia (Montezuman, Dyeran, Delameran, see Palmer, 1998) and the other Laurentian stages proposed by Ludvigsen and Westrop (1985) as well as the best Laurentian section showing the atavus-gibbus boundary, which is one of the proposed international series boundary (Robison and others, 1977).

 

(10) 31st International Geological Congress

The 31st International Geological Congress took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 6-17 August, 2000. The International Subcommission on Cambrian Stratigraphy organized a formal meeting during this Congress on 16 August, 2000, in the RioCentro Conference Center. The ISCS members  presented a number of oral and poster presentations dealing with Cambrian stratigraphy.

 

(11) 6th Field Conference of the Cambrian Subdivisions Working Groups

The 6th Field Conference of the Cambrian Subdivisions Working Groups was held in the Argentinan Pre­cordillera, 18-24 August, 2000, following directly the 31st International Geological Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (see below under 6.2.2). The conference was organized by O. Bordonaro (Mendoza), S. Peralta (San Juan), and G. Aceñolaza (Tucumán). Participants visited Cambrian localities in the San Juan, Salta and Jujuy areas.

Thirty-two participants from Argentina, China, France, Germany, Korea, Spain, Sweden and the U.S.A. met to access the Cambrian in the Precordillera and in Northwest Argentina. The Precordillera field trip focussed on the Quebrada de Zonda, the Quebrada de la Flecha and the Cerro La Silla sections, where the party was guided in particular by A. L. Banchig, O. Bordonaro and S. Peralta. The field trip in Northwest Argentina, guided mainly by G. F. Aceñolaza, L. A. Buatois and M. F. Tortello, led to the Eastern Cordilleran Ranges of the Salta and Jujuy provinces featuring particularly the Puncoviscana and Formationa and the Mesón and Santa Victoria Groups. In addition, nine presentations were given at a seminar session in Salta. All of these presentations at the scientific sessions were relevant to the ISCS objectives.

In addition, an informal Subcommission meeting took place on during the conference on 23 August, 2000 at Pur­mamarca. This mee­ting focused on a review of the 2000 achievements and a discussion on the progress on Cam­brian global correlation levels and possible chronostratigraphic units. Furthermore, it was decided to establish a number of new Working Groups on various stratigraphic aspects

The five Workings Groups on potential GSSPs on levels proposed as suitable for global correlation are listed above.

A Guidebook with the abstracts for this meeting was published by the Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica (INSUGEO) (G. F. Aceñolaza & S. Peralta, eds., 2000. Cambrian from the southern edge. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica, Miscelánea 6, 148 pp.).

 

(11) South China 2001

South China 2001, the 7th Field Conference of the Cambrian Subdivisions Working Group was held in the the Hunan and Guizhou provinces, China, 18 August – 5 September, 2001. A post-conference field excursion took place in Yunnan, 6-8 September, 2001. Institutions organizing this meeting were: Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGPAS), Chinese Academy of Sciences; Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (LPSCAS), Chinese Academy od Sciences; Guizhou University of Technology (GUT); and the Palaeontological Society of China (PSC). The Organizing Committee consisted of Peng Shanchi (NIGPAS), Zhao Yuanlong (GUT), Zhu Maoyan (NIGPAS), Loren Babcock (Columbus, OH) and Bernd-D. Erdtmann (Berlin, Germany).

A total of 75 scientists attended the meeting, coming from China overseas (Australia, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom and the U.S.A.). Scientific sessions were held following an opening ceremony on 28 August in Zhangjiajie City, on the evening of 2 September in Taijiang, and on the afternoon and evening of 3 September at the Guizhou University of Technology. During these sessions 21 presentations were made, followed by a business meeting of the Working Group. Minutes from this meeting are available separately.

Field excursions occupied the remainder of the China 2001 conference. These concentrated on the occurrence of Glyptagnostus reticulatus at the Wa’ergang, Wangcun and Paibi sections in Hunan, and the Oryctocephalus indicus level in the Kaili Formation at the Miaobanpo and Wuliu sections in Guizhou. A monument commemorating the discovery of the Kaili biota was unveiled at the type section. Other sections visited included: the Sancha section in Hunan; the Lower Cambrian at Huanglian, Songtao, Guizhou; Upper Sinian-Cambrian at Wuhe, Guizhou; and the lowermost Cambrian phosphorite deposit at Gezhongwu, Guizhou. The post-conference excursion wased based on Kunming, Yunnan and focused on the Chengjiang biota at Maotianshan and Ma’anshan, and on the quarry section at Ercaiun. Classical Precambrian-Cambrian sections were visited near Meishucun.

Many short papers and abstracts were generated by this meeting. Sixteen are included in a special volume of Acta Palaeontologica Sinica (The Cambrian of South China. Zhu Maoyan, Heyo Van Iten, Peng Shanchi, and Li Guoxiang, eds. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 40, Supplement, 240 pp., Science Press, Beijing, 2001). A further 42 articles and abstracts are published in “Cambrian System of South China. Peng Shanchi, L. E. Babcock, and Zhu Maoyan, eds. Palaeoworld 13, 310 pp., University of Science and Technology of China Press, Hefei, 2001. This volume also includes the excursion Guide Book. A further 14 papers mostly concerned with the Kaili biota had been published in Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 38, Supplement, 164 pp.

 

(12) Early Palaeozoic Palaeogeographies and Biogeographies of Western Europe and North Africa

A meeting titled Early Palaeozoic Palaeogeographies and Biogeographies of Western Europe and North Africa took place at the Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille (USTL) in Villeneuve d’Ascq, September 24-26, 2001, with a pre-conference field excursion to the Lower Palaeozoic of Belgium and a post-conference field excursion to the Montagne Noire, southern France.

Organizing institutions were the Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille; the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, UPRESA 8014); the Groupe Français du Paléozoïque; the Société Géologique du Nord; the Société Géologique de France; Geologica Belgica ; IGCP Projects 410 and 421; and the Ministerio Español de Educación y Ciencia. Organizers of the scientific sessions were J. J. Álvaro and T. Servais (USTL). The pre-conference field excursion war organized by A, Herbosch (Brussels) and J. Verniers (Gent), the post-conference excursion by D. Vizcaïno (Carcassonne).

A total of 35 presentations were made at the scientific sessions, eleven of which were concerned with Cambrian topics. Additionally, a Workshop on Cambrian Palaeo(bio)geography was convened by J. J. Álvaro and J. H. Shergold. The meeting was notable for its multidisciplinary approach to the topics addressed: biostratigraphic, sedimentologic, geochemical, and geophysical. The post-excursion guidebook (The Cambrian and Lower Ordovician of the southern Montagne Noire: a synthesis for the beginning of the new century. J. J. Álvaro and D. Vizcaïno, eds.) is published in the Annales de la Société Géologique du Nord, 2ème série, vol. 8, fasc. 4, p. 183-242.

 

(13) The VIII Conference of the Cambrian Stage Subdivision Working Group was held in Caunes-Minervois in Languedoc, southern France, September 12-14, 2002. Field excursions took place during the conference and visited Cambrian sections in the Montagne Noire. The Organizing Committee consisted of ISCS VM J. J. Álvaro (Lille) S. Clausen (Lille), ISCS HM F. Debrenne (Paris), ISCS Chairman J. H. Shergold, and D. Vizcaïno (Carcassonne).

A total of 41 scientists from 12 countries (Australia, China, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the U.S.A.) attended the meeting, others sent posters for the sessions. Scientific sessions were held on September 12 and 13 in the Abbey of Caunes-Minervois. During these sessions 17 oral communications were made and 13 poster were presented, followed by a business meeting of the Working Group on the afternoon of September 13. The abstracts are published in a program and abstract volume edited by J. J. Álvaro and S. Clausen (Álvaro, J. J. & Clausen, S., eds., 2002. VII Conference of the Cambrian Stage Subdivision Working Group, International Subcommission on Cambrian Stratigraphy. Caunes, Minervois, September 12-14, 2002. Programme and Abstracts, 47 pp.).

Field excursions concentrated on the Cambrian sections of the Montagne Noire and took place on September 12 and Friday 13, when the Lower Cambrian (regional) stratotype in the Orbiel valley, the Middle-Upper Cambrian of Sallèles-Cabardès and the Middle Cambrian (regional) stratotype at Ferrals-les-Montagnes were studied in detail, including extended discussions on the stratigraphical problems. A further visit guided to the “Cave Museum of Palaeontology” of Berlou.

 

(14) ISCS Officers E. Landing and G. Geyer organized a Topical Session on the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Denver, CO, October 29, 2002, titled “Reconstructing the Cambrian World: Temporal and Spatial Changes in Physical and Biotic Environments.” This session presented twelve talks by 28 scientists from four countries. The abstracts of these talks were published in the Geological Society of America 2002 Annual Meeting, Abstracts with Programs volume.

 

 

B. Working Group Initiative

 

The Global Subdivision Project of the ISCS is the central target of Subcommission activities during the last years. The project seeks to establish a subdivision of the Cambrian into official series and stages on a global scale. The way to arrive at this goal was matter of debates. Response from polled Voting Members suggested it to be logical to define relevant levels as the base of Cambrian stages and proceed with a refined subdivision with refined knowledge. Accordingly, the ISCS established a number of Working Groups for careful examination of candidate sections in respect to requirements to be satisfied. This proposal was unanimously excepted by the ISCS in 2000. Consequently, and successively the following Working Groups were established (ranked according to the date of introduction):

 

·        Working Group on a Glyptagnostus reticulatus level GSSP

 

·        Working Group on a Cordylodus proavus level GSSP

 

·        Working Group on a Acidusus atavus level GSSP

 

·        Working Group on a Oryctocephalus indicus level GSSP or on that of another fossil in a comparable stratigraphic position

A Working Group on a Ptychagnostus punctuosus level GSSP has been suggested but does not yet exist.

After successfully introducing a GSSP based on the G. reticulatus level in 2001, the Working Group on a Glyptagnostus reticulatus level GSSP has already stopped to exist:

Paibian Stage and Furongian Series chosen!

 

Paleontologists traditionally play a key role in the International Subcommission on Cambrian Stratigraphy, and the overwhelming majority of stratigraphic information for the Cambrian is coming from biostratigraphy. This was partly criticized in the nearer past. However, information from isotopes and radiometric datings remained either sparse or is often difficult to precisely correlate with the wealth of biostratigraphic information. To overcome this problem, it was suggested that several new Working Groups were established. In the meantime the following WGs exist:

·        A Working Group on Cambrian Geochemical Correlation formed from the expertise of members within the subcommission. The major task of this WG is the application of non-conventional correlation techniques such as isotope profiles (based on carbon, oxygen, strontium, sulphur, and other elements) and to calibrate them with biostratigraphic data.

·        A Working Group on the Yangtze Platform was suggested to calibrate interests and activities of scientists working on various aspects of the Cambrian in South China.

 

In addition, the Regional Correlation Charts Working Group is active in production of regional correlation charts for the Cambrian System.

 

 

... AND STILL MORE TO COME

Further field conferences and congresses are planned as follows:

 

IX INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE CAMBRIAN STAGE SUBDIVISION WORKING GROUP

 

The IX INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE CAMBRIAN STAGE SUBDIVISION WORKING GROUP will be held at Taebaek, South Korea, September 16-21, 2004.


A provisional schedule of the conference is as follows:

 

September 15 (Wed): Arrival of participants in Seoul and reception. Participants will be met in Incheon International Airport. (Hoam Faculty House, Seoul National University)

September 16 (Thu): Seoul to Taebaek (250 km) by bus. (Sky Hotel at Taebaek)

September 17 (Fri): Full succession of the Cambrian-Ordovician Taebaek Group at Sukkaejae section, Taebaek. (Sky Hotel at Taebaek)

September 18 (Sat): Tongjom and Sangdong sections, Taebaek (Precambrian-Cambrian boundary and Cambrian-Ordovician boundary intervals) [Scientific session in the evening] (Sky Hotel at Taebaek)

September 19 (Sun): Konggiri section, Yongwol (mostly Upper Cambrian, Machari Formation) (Tanyang Tourist Hotel at Tanyan)

September 20 (Mon): Tanyang to Suanbo Spa (South Korean Tectonic Line) [ISCS workshop] (Sangrok Hotel at Suanbo)

September 21 (Tue): [Scientific session in the morning]; Suanbo to Seoul (Hoam Faculty House, Seoul National University)

September 22 (Wed): Departure of participants to Incheon airport.


If you wish to receive the second circular, please contact Duck Keun Choi, Department of Geological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea, preferably by E-mail dkchoi@snu.ac.kr. Deadline is December 1, 2003.

 

Fourth International Symposium on the Cambrian System

 

The Fourth International Symposium on the Cambrian System is planned to be held in China in 2005, organized by members of the Nanjing Insitute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica. Pre- and post-symposium excursions will offer the possibility to visit a number of Cambrian localities in China, such as Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Xinjiang, and Liaoning.

 

Albany 2006

 

The possibility of a meeting in 2006 of the Cambrian Subdivision Project in the eastern United States is being considered. Ed Landing (N.Y. State Education Dept., Albany, NY) agreed to organize a conference of the Cambrian Subdivision Working Group in the eastern United States, starting from Burlington, VT and ending in Albany, NY. According to Ed Landing, Albany 2006 would visit classic localities of the Cambrian of northeast Laurentia which are exposed along a roughly north-south belt in eastern New York and western Vermont.

 

 

 Copyright © ISCS, 2002, 2003

 

Page maintained by G. Geyer

Institut für Paläontologie, Universität Würzburg, e-mail palo001@rzroe.uni-wuerzburg.de

last updated July 31, 2003