A stable cenozoic geologic time scale is indispensable

Abstract

A stable, standard geologic time scale is indispensable for the clear and precise communication among geologists; it is a basic tool of geologic work. Considerable progress has been made to achieve such a stable time scale. However, during the last few years several proposals have been made to modify the Cenozoic section of the geologic time scale that threaten to destabilize it. Seven articles published in Episodes since 2000 that could contribute to this destabilization are discussed. They provide excellent examples of the profusion of different terminologies, hierarchies, and stratigraphic relationships that have been proposed: to eliminate the Tertiary and the Quaternary or to raise their rank to suberathems; to extend the Neogene to the present, to make the Quaternary a formal subsystem of the Neogene, or consider it an informal stratigraphic unit; to eliminate the Holocene, and to decouple the base of the Pleistocene from the base of the Quaternary. If adopted, these proposals would cause nothing but great confusion and controversy. They disregard the clear preferences of geologists the world over as reflected by the terminology they have been using for many decades. Common sense would dictate the continued use of this terminology in its current, widely accepted form.