International Subcommission on Paleogene Stratigraphy (ISPS)
a subcommission of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)
and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
Presidency for 2020-2023
Laia Alegret (University of Zaragoza, and corresponding member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences) has contributed to the study of various events and GSSPs of the Paleogene, mostly based on the analysis of benthic foraminifera and their geochemical signal. Her work has contributed to the paleoenvironmental reconstruction across the Cretaceous/Paleogene impact event, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal maximum and other hyperthermal events, looking at localities globally distributed.…
Aitor Payros is a lecturer at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Since 1991 his research has embraced Paleogene stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleogeography and paleoclimatology in the Pyrenean area, but his interest has also extended to other regions and intervals of the geological record, especially the environmental impact of past climate change episodes on deep marine deposits.…
Voting Members
Claudia Agnini
Laia Alegret
Biography
Laia Alegret (University of Zaragoza, and corresponding member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences) has contributed to the study of various events and GSSPs of the Paleogene, mostly based on the analysis of benthic foraminifera and their geochemical signal. Her work has contributed to the paleoenvironmental reconstruction across the Cretaceous/Paleogene impact event, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal maximum and other hyperthermal events, looking at localities globally distributed. Recently, she is focused on the study of Zealandia, the seventh and mostly submerged continent, and on the study of its evolution across the Paleogene.
Rodolfo Coccioni
Margaret Collinson
Laura Cotton
Biography
My research interests are primarily concerned with examining the interactions of the Cenozoic climate systems and shallow marine environment, using larger benthic foraminifera and other invertebrate fossils. In particular, my current research is focussed on the events of the Eocene-Oligocene transition and the mechanisms behind the global biotic overturning events. I am also responsible for curating the micropalaeontological collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Jaume Dinarès-Turell
Yuri O. Gavrilov
Andrey Gladenkov
Claus Heilmann-Clausen
Christopher Hollis
Narjess Karoui-Yaakoub
Didier Merle
Simonetta Monechi
Biography
Chairman ISPS 2016-2020
Aitor Payros
Biography
Aitor Payros is a lecturer at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Since 1991 his research has embraced Paleogene stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleogeography and paleoclimatology in the Pyrenean area, but his interest has also extended to other regions and intervals of the geological record, especially the environmental impact of past climate change episodes on deep marine deposits. His work has contributed to the definition of several Paleogene Global Stratotype Sections and Points. In 2015 he was awarded the ICS Medal of the international Commission on Stratigraphy for his work in Eocene biomagnetostratigraphic calibrations.
Etienne Steurbaut
Ellen Thomas
Noël Vandenberghe
Bridget Wade
Thomas Westerhold
James Zachos
Webmaster
Stefano Dominici
Past Chairs were Simonetta Monechi, Eustoquio Molina (+), Hanspeter Luterbacher (+), Graham D. Jenkins (+), Isabella Premoli Silva and Charles Pomerol (+).
Overall objectives of ISPS
A) To agree on an international set of stages and series for the Paleogene
B) To establish boundary stratotypes of the Paleogene stages and series
C) To encourage research into the Paleogene by setting up Working Groups and Regional Committees to study and report on specific problems.
In order to keep acting as an active body, the ISPS has a dinamic composition. The new board of the ISPS was elected in 2020. In addition, voting members are replaced aiming at three terms of 4 year for each voting member. Voting and Corresponding Members are selected regionally to provide representative expertise in the Paleogene stratigraphy of each major area and according to their speciality in order to cover the main fields of stratigraphic tools used in the Paleogene.
A set of Paleogene stages has been voted and agreed on by the ISPS in 1989. Subsequently, Working Groups have been set up to find a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the lower boundary of each of these stages.
At present, the GSSPs of the base of the Danian (= Cretaceous/Paleogene Boundary), the base of the Selandian, the base of the Thanetian, the base of the Ypresian (= Paleocene/Eocene Boundary ), the base of the Lutetian, the base of the Rupelian (= Eocene/Oligocene Boundary), the base of the Chattian, and the base of the Aquitanian (= Paleogene/Neogene Boundary) have been established and ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences.
The search for the remaining GSSPs has been continued in the following years. Good progress has been made in the Bartonian and Priabonian.
Although sub-series / sub-epochs are not recognized as formal units by the ICS, they are tolerated in recognition of their widespread use. For completeness of information it is useful to clarify how they map on to the formal Stages /Ages. In setting this out it is important to be clear that no attempt is being made here to define these units or allocate any special status to them. The list merely reflects convention as it has developed over the years.
The informal ‘lower / early Paleocene’ sub-series / sub-epoch is stratigraphically equivalent to the formal Danian Stage / Age
The informal ‘middle Paleocene’ sub-series / sub-epoch is stratigraphically equivalent to the formal Selandian Stage / Age
The informal ‘upper / late Paleocene’ sub-series / sub-epoch is stratigraphically equivalent to the formal Thanetian Stage / Age
The informal ‘lower / early Eocene’ sub-series / sub-epoch is stratigraphically equivalent to the formal Ypresian Stage / Age
The informal ‘middle Eocene’ sub-series / sub-epoch is stratigraphically equivalent to the combined formal Lutetian and Bartonian Stages / Ages
The informal ‘upper/late Eocene’ sub-series / sub-epoch is stratigraphically equivalent to the formal Priabonian Stage / Age
The informal ‘lower / early Oligocene’ sub-series / sub-epoch is stratigraphically equivalent to the formal Rupelian Stage / Age
The informal ‘upper / late Oligocene’ sub-series / sub-epoch is stratigraphically equivalent to the formal Chattian Stage / Age