Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy

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Stratigraphical charts for the Quaternary

The formal division of the Quaternary is the responsibility of the IUGS International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS), in partnership with the International Union for Quaternary Research's (INQUA) Commission on Stratigraphy and Chronology (SACCOM).

Global chronostratigraphical correlation table for the last 2.7 million years

The table provides a correlation of chronostratigraphical subdivisions of late Cenozoic geological time, spanning the last 2.7 million years. The timescale of the correlation table is based on the internationally-recognised formal time subdivisions: the Phanerozoic Eon; the Cenozoic Era; the Quaternary System or Period; the Pleistocene and Holocene Series, and finally the Early/Lower, Middle, Late/Upper Pleistocene Subseries. At present the subseries divisions of the Pleistocene are not formalised. Series, and thereby systems, are formally-defined based on Global Stratotype Section and Points (GSSP) of which two have been ratified within the last 2.7 million years.

Previous versions of the chart were published as Gibbard et al. 2004, 2005 and Gibbard & Cohen, 2008.

• The chart is available for download as: a JPG file (large 2.1 Mb) | as a PDF file (433 Kb) | 2009 documentation
• The latest published version is found here: Episodes 2008 correlation chart PDF (584 Kb) (chart, documentation, full references)
• Archived older versions of the chart are found here: 2004 | 2005 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 (includes a change log)

Other Charts

Elsewhere on the web

The following sites produce up to date stratigraphical charts for all divisions of geological time

• www.stratigraphy.org - by IUGS - ICS
• ICS full geological time scale (PDF)
• timescale creator
• GSSP web site

Iberian Chronostratigraphical Chart for the last 3 million years

This chart, Tabla Cronoestratigráfica del Cuaternario de la Península Ibérica, is produced by AEQUA

For download is a high-resolution jpeg version (1.0 Mb). This is version 2, the earlier version, published in 2007 (1.3 Mb), is available here.

GSA Geologic Time Scale

A new 2009 Geologic Time Scale chart by the Geological Society of America is published in GSA Today.

this page is maintained by P.L. Gibbard and K.M. Cohen