The Kimmeridgian GSSP ratified by IUGS
The International Commission on Stratigraphy are pleased to announce that the Kimmeridgian GSSP, identifying the base of the middle stage of the Upper Jurassic Series within the Jurassic System, has been unanimously and formally ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).
The Kimmeridgian Stage is named after the tiny village of Kimmeridge which is on the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern England, UK. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about 150 km, and was approved as a World Heritage Site in mid-December 2001 for its outstanding rocks, fossils and geomorphology.
The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point - GSSP - that marks the basal stratum of the Kimmeridgian Stage has been formally defined about 1000 km away from Kimmeridge at Flodigarry, near Staffin on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK. Here the stratigraphy is more complete, better preserved and contains ammonites from two faunal provinces. The GSSP is defined by ammonites marking the base of the Subboreal Baylei Zone and independently the base of the Boreal Bauhini Zone.
For more information about the Kimmeridgian Stage, please see the Jurassic Subcommission’s websbite:
Nicholas Car
ICS Webmaster
07/03/2021