Welcome to the International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification

The Subcommission represents a core business for the International Commission on Stratigraphy the primary body for creating, discussing, publishing and disseminating an internationally agreed-upon guide on stratigraphic terminology and classification or-in other words standardization of the Stratigraphic Units.

Its first priority is to advertise new developments in stratigraphic methods, check that the procedures are carefully followed, and monitor the application of the accepted rules. They fall in two categories:

1. the world-wide acceptance of the basic rules of stratigraphy, without which no time-scale is meaningful, because of the potential gap between knowledge and concepts;
2. coordination of international application of stratigraphic principles and concepts, with special reference to the most important “users” of stratigraphy, as Geological Surveys, graduate and undergraduate teaching, oil companies, professionals.

The objectives of the Subcommission are relevant to IUGS policy because standardization of the stratigraphic terminology is essential to any attempt of global correlation, and requires a large and active international cooperation.