Formal Subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch: A Summary

• Main Authors: Walker, M, Gibbard, P, Head, MJ, Berkelhammer, M, Björck, S, Cheng, H, Cwynar, LC, Fisher, D, Gkinis, V, Long, A, Lowe, J, Newnham, R, Rasmussen, SO, Weiss, H
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Geological Society of India 2019
• Subjects: 37 Earth Sciences; 3709 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience; 3705 Geology; Greenland; ice core
• Online Access: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/288488; https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.35775

The Holocene Series/Epoch is the most recent series/epoch in the geological timescale, spanning the interval from 11,700 yr to the present day. Together with the subadjacent Pleistocene, it comprises the Quaternary System/Period. The Holocene record contains diverse geomorphological, biotic, climatological and archaeological evidence, within sequences that are often continuous and extremely well-preserved at decadal, annual and even seasonal resolution. As a consequence, the Holocene is perhaps the most intensively-studied series/epoch within the entire Geological Time Scale. Yet until recently little attention had been paid to a formal subdivision of the Holocene. Here we describe an initiative by the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) to develop a formal stratigraphical subdivision of the Holocene, with three new stages/ages, two underpinned by Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSPs) in an ice core, and a third in a speleothem. These stages/ages are defined along with their equivalent subseries/subepochs. The new stages/ages are the Greenlandian with its GSSP in the Greenland NGRIP2 ice core and dated at 11,700 yr b2k (before 2000 CE); the NorthGrippian with its GSSP in the Greenland NGRIP1 ice core and dated to 8236 yr b2k; and the Meghalayan, with its GSSP in a speleothem from Mawmluh Cave, northeastern India, with a date of 4250 yr b2k. This subdivision was formally ratified by the Executive Committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) on 14th June 2018. none