The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) is the largest scientific body within the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). It is also the only organisation concerned with stratigraphy on a global scale. One of its major objectives are the establishment of a standard, globally applicable stratigraphic scale, which it seeks to achieve through the co-ordinated contributions of a network of Subcommissions and Working Groups with a specific, limited mandate.

ICS and its expert stratigraphers promote and coordinate long-term international cooperation. Its six statutary scientific goals are:

The scientific activities shall be carried out through projects, public websites, publications and meetings arranged in collaboration with IUGS-affiliated organizations, IUGS-joint programs, non-governmental bodies and inter-governmental bodies.

Annual reports of all ICS subcommissions are now accessible - check News section

The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) has about 400 titular members, with over 2000 stratigraphers worldwide participating in its many activities. At the session of the IUGS council in conjunction with the International Geological Conference in Rio de Janeiro in August 2000, the following new officers were elected for the Bureau of ICS:

COMMISSION BUREAU

Chair: Prof. Stanley Finney
Department of Geological Sciences,
California State University at Long Beach,
Long Beach, CA 90840, USA
Tel: 1-562-985-8637; Fax: 1-562-985-8638
e-mail: scfinney@csulb.edu

Vice-Chair: Prof. Shanchi Peng
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences,
39 East Beijing Street, Nanjing 210008, China,
Tel & Fax: 86-25-83282135
e-mail: scpeng@nigpas.ac.cn

Secretary General: Prof. Paul R. Bown
Department of Geological Sciences, University College London,
Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, Great Britain
Tel: 44-0-20-7504-2431; Fax: 44-0-20-7388-7614
e-mail: p.bown@ucl.ac.uk

Past Chair: Prof. Felix M. Gradstein
Museum for Geology and Paleontology,
Boks 1172 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway
Fax: 47-22-851832, Tel: 47-22-851663
e-mail: felix.gradstein@(no spam)nhm.uio.no
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Major goals:
  • Simplify and streamline the ICS subcommissions structure, and increase the relevance and awareness of ICS work in the field of educational and applied stratigraphy
  • Closer links with IGCP and other IUGS scientific commisions and projects to strenghten application of stratigraphy in earth sciences
  • Create a Stratigraphic Services Unit, with on-line services for information on:
    • Stratigraphic code and standards, and its ratification and publication,
    • Geohistory education and its web links
    • Geological time scale information,
    • Stratigraphic data base center and links
    • Quantitative stratigraphic methods and its applications
  • Complete a standard geological time scale with all text and PDF colour graphics on CD that smoothly integrates Milankowitch type scales, and coarser bio-,magneto-,Sr/Sr-, and chronostratigraphy scales and uses the best possible interpolation methods to calculate and express stratigraphic uncertainty at its boundaries.
  • Exploit the use of the website
  • Continue with and accelerate the process of establishing GSSP's for main chronostratigraphic boundaries, down to the stage level where applicable
  • Provide more funding for special and novel stratigraphic projects, symposia, field conferences and publications.

Gradstein strongly urges the present Period/System subcommissions to complete their work on Global Boundary Section and Point's (GSSP) to underpin chronostratigraphic units down to the series and stage levels. There might be a misconception that this GSSP task is a main occupation of ICS, but this is neither true, nor desirable. To say it with an analog: Standardizing the meter, the second and other physical units with the most modern tools, and measuring with it certainly are major tasks, but should not become goals in themselves. Similarly, creating a standardized chronostratigraphy / geochronology with GSSP's in the Phanerozoic, and GSSA's in the Proterozoic and Archaic are important tasks at hand, but should not occupy us to the point where the real role of stratigraphy as modeller of earth history at all possible scales suffers, and is neglected.

As the simplified stratigraphic time scale in figure 1 shows, there are currently 37 ratified or nearly ratified GSSP's, a majority published with authoritative presentations in the Episodes journal. This still leaves about 50 more GSSP's to go in the Phanerozoic. Although it took over 30 years to do the first 37, ICS must demonstrate to the global earth-science community that it can do the remaining in a much less time, and with less expense as a result. In this respect it is promising that the subcommissions in ICS responsible for standardization in each Period/System have given strong indications that a majority of GSSP's can be accomplished within the next few years, and such is the goal of ICS. The accomplishment of this goal reflects the leadership in putting one of the fundaments of stratigraphy on a modern footing.

Over the past years IUGS has provided much deserved funding to ICS based on the scientific progress achieved. The new ICS bureau at the start of the new Millenium hopes that its attractive scientific package and the leading activities of its consituent stratigraphers will keep up the good profile.