16-17 May 2012
The Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London

A primary question for any earth scientist in correlation (for example, of a local event to the global record) is “what age is it”. How precisely can stratigraphers now answer this question? Local endemic biostratigraphic schemes are now routinely being correlated to global schemes. Recent advances in radiometric ITDMS U-PB dating of zircons and computer-based methods of quantitative biostratigraphy now make it possible to produce sub-100 k.y. resolution as far into deep time as the Palaeozoic. The application of orbital cyclicity has been demonstrated in the Cenozoic and Mesozoic and may be possible in the Palaeozoic allowing age calibration using the 40-400Ky cycles. With ongoing tuning of the entire Phanerozoic timescale using orbital forcing cycles, plus the assembly of a Phanerozoic record of isotope stratigraphy, can we look forward to the potential of routinely correlating on the scale of 100-500Kyr? How are these new dating resolutions and techniques being used in the study of earth events and in practical and applied biostratigraphy, from basin scale to reservoir scale in the oil industry or in other subsurface studies? This conference will bring together chronostratigraphy specialists, biostratigraphers and applied geologists to explore new synergies to bring the ‘new dating’ into wider applied and practical uses.

Call for Abstracts – Deadline 14 December 2011

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