Welcome to the homepage of the

INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY!

International Commission on Stratigraphy

The Subcommission executive welcomes you to browse this site for informations about the organization of the ISCS, its activities and achievements as well as for general informations on Cambrian stratigraphy, localities, and life in this unique period of the earth history.

What is the INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY?

Organization of the INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY

Membership list

ISCS accomplishments, achievements and products

Activities of the INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY

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virtual visit to the Cambrian world!

What is the INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY?

The INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY (ISCS) is an organization of the INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON STRATIGRAPHY (ICS), which itself is a daughter of the INTERNATIONAL UNION OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES (IUGS). Main overall objectives of the INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY (ICS) are

a. To complete and publish regional correlation charts for the Cambrian System, and

b. To develop a global stage-level chronostratigraphic classification of the Cambrian System.

The Cambrian System is currently without formally agreed international stages. This partly reflects the scarcity of suitable biostratigraphic markers for intercontinental correlation at the stage level and faunal provincialism. However, research in progress on trilobites and conodonts (for the latter half of the Late Cambrian) show promise for long range correlation and definition of stages. The time interval is of growing international interest and research is being actively pursued by ISCS members.

Organization of the INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY

Present officers of the INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON CAMBRIAN STRATIGRAPHY are

· Chairman

Prof. Dr. Peng Shan-chi
Nanjing Insitute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China. E-mail [speng@pub.jlonline.com].

· First Vice Chairman

Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Moczydłowska
Department of Micropalaeontology, Institute of Earth Sciences, Historical Geology and Palaeontology, Uppsala University, Nörbyvägen 22, Box 558, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden. Phone (+46)-18-4712743, Fax (+46)-18-4712749, E-mail [malgo.vidal@pal.uu.se].

· Second Vice Chairman

apl. Prof. Dr. Gerd Geyer
Institut für Paläontologie, Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität, Pleicherwall 1, 97070 Würzburg, Germany. Phone (+49)-931-312599, Fax (+49)-931-312504, E-mail [palo001@rzroe.uni-wuerzburg.de].

· Secretary

Prof. Dr. Loren Babcock, Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio State University, 155 So. Oval Mall, Columbus OH 43210-1397, U.S.A. Phone (+1)-614-292 0358, E-mail [babcock.5@osu.edu] and [lbabcock@columbus.rr.com].

Furthermore, the ICSC has 18 Voting Members, 9 Honorary Members, and 89 Corresponding Members. The ISCS's voting members were selected to maintain a balance between regional experience and the expertise of various stratigraphic and paleontologic disciplines. Expertise is supplemented by corresponding members from individual countries or regions. Corresponding members are encouraged to communicate with ISCS working groups and the ISCS executive to actively participate in the development of a global stage-level chronostratigraphic classification of the Cambrian System.

A total of six Working Groups of the ISCS exist at the moment (see ACTIVITIES).

Interface with other international projects

The ISCS has been traditionally affiliated with I.G.C.P. projects, particularly the following:

· Project 29 (Working Group on the Precambrian-Cambrian Boundary)

· Project 303 (Working Group on Precambrian-Cambrian Event Stratigraphy)

· Project 319 (Global Paleogeography of Late Precambrian and Early Paleozoic)

· Project 366 (Ecological Aspects of the Cambrian Radiation)

· Project 376 (Laurentian-Gondwana Connections Before Pangea)

· Project 410 (The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event; ranges from latest Cambrian to early Silurian).

The ISCS Chairman is a voting member of the Cambrian-Ordovician Boundary Working Group and Correlation Chart Working Group coordinator.