Studies Shed New Light on Cambrian Chronostratigraphy

A new framework subdividing Cambrian System into 4 series and 10 stages has been recently adopted by the 2005 and 2006 editions of the International Stratigraphic Chart, a popular corpus of the International Commission of Stratigraphy (ICS), putting an end to the traditional approach of tripartite Cambrian. Until recently, the traditional subdivision of the Cambrian System into lower, middle and upper series had been used for about 170 years.

The framework was first proposed by Prof. Peng Shanchi from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, at IX Conference of the Cambrian Stage Working Group held in Taebaek, South Korea in Sep. 2004, and was published at the beginning of 2005. The proposal received overwhelming support (88% in favor) from Voting Members of the International Subcommission of Cambrian Stratigraphy (ISCS). The changes in the new Chart signify that ICS endorses the vote of ISCS.