Abstract:

High resolution chronostratigraphic system is the foundation for the research of Earth system science. High resolution integrated stratigraphy makes an attempt to establish high resolution stratigraphic framework with resolution less than a biozone both for a stratigraphic unit and for the correlation error of a stratigraphic boundary. In the present paper the stratigraphic methods are divided into 3 kinds generally used to establish chronostratigraphic system. They are biostratigraphy, the various subdisciplines of modern stratigraphy, and isotope chronostratigraphy. Their advantages and disadvantages of the 3 kinds of stratigraphic methods are discussed. It is considered that the resolution of any kind of stratigraphic method is limited, and the integrated stratigraphy may provide an effective approach for the high resolution division and high precision correlation of strata. Biostratigraphy is used to establish a believable relative chronostratigraphic framework, the subdisciplines of modern stratigraphy contribute the high resolution division and high precision correlation of strata, and isotope chronostratigraphy gives absolute age of both biostratigraphic boundaries and other kinds of stratigraphic boundaries. The combination of all three (biostratigraphy, modern stratigraphy and isotope chronostratigraphy) commonly constitutes high resolution integrated stratigraphy.

Key words: Earth system science, geological time scale, international stratigraphic chart, high resolution integrated stratigraphy, Deep Time, Earth Time