INTERNATIONAL SUBCOMMISSION ON JURASSIC STRATIGRAPHY http://jurassic.earth.ox.ac.uk/ Newsletter 35/2, December 2008 Edited by Nicol Morton and Stephen Hesselbo Prospective GSSP for base Toarcian, Peniche, Portugal (photo: S. P. Hesselbo) CONTENTS EX-CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Nicol Morton 1 NEWS ITEMS AND MEETINGS 8th International Congress on the Jurassic System, Shehong of Suining, China August 2010 Jingeng Sha and Yongdong Wang 4 IGCP506: Marine and Non-marine Jurassic: Report on 5th International Symposium, Hammamet, Tunisia, 28-31 March 2008-11-15 Nicol Morton 5 REPORTS OF WORKING GROUPS Pliensbachian Christian Meister 7 Bathonian Sixto R. Fernandez Lopez 9 Callovian John Callomon 12 Kimmeridgian Andrzej Wierzbowski 14 Tithonian Federico Oloriz and Günther Schweigert 20 Geoconservation Kevin Page 21 Liaison Robert Chandler 27 CORRESPONDENCE Session on the Jurassic System at the 2007 annual meeting of the Geological Society of Japan. Atsushi Matsuoka 30 Annual meeting of the German Subcommission on Jurassic Stratigraphy, Bamberg (Bavaria) 22-24 May 2008. Eckhard Mönnig 31 Trans-border (S.E. Serbia/S.W. Bulgaria) correlation of Jurassic sediments – a new bilateral project. Platon Tchoumatchenko 32 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Stratigraphy: Terminology and Practice. J. Rey and S. Galeotti (eds.) 2008, Technip Édit. BRGM-Total 176p. Jacques Thierry 41 Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association vol. 119, Part 1, 2008, Special Issue on the Jurassic edited by Beris M. Cox and Michael G. Sumbler Nicol Morton 42 IN MEMORIAM Larbi MEKHALI (1952-2008) Abbas Marok 43 René MOUTERDE (1915–2007) Christiane Ruget 45 Colin F. PARSONS (1945-2008) Robert Chandler 47 Bruce W. SELLWOOD (1946-2007) Tony Hallam 50 EX-CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Nicol MORTON The Jurassic Subcommission and the [email protected] international Jurassic community in general have the advantages of two changes of I am happy to report to you all that this is my personnel at the same time as the advent of last such Report in the ISJS Newsletter. It has its new Executive. The former Jurassic been a great honour, and indeed a pleasure, Subcommission Secretary, Paul Bown, is to be Chairman of the Jurassic now Secretary General of ICS, while a Subcommission for these past eight years. It Jurassic stratigrapher and palaeontologist and would not have been so without the great long-standing member of ISJS, Alberto help and support of Paul Bown, who Riccardi, has been elected as President of corrected my errors, assembled the material IUGS. On behalf of all of us I congratulate into the format, produced and distributed the Paul and Alberto and wish them all success Newsletters, and of Paul Smith whose advice in their new roles. and assistance have been invaluable. My sincere thanks go to both. Progress with GSSPs The prime responsibility placed on the Changes of Personnel Jurassic Subcommission by the IUGS and At this time last year I reported (in ICS is the definition by means of GSSPs of Newsletter 34 Part 2 p. 8) the election of the the units of the International Standard new Executive of the Jurassic Chronostratigraphic Scale at the level of Subcommission for the term 2008-2012 – Stages and above, and therefore of the Jozsef Palfy (Chairman), Jingeng Sha (Vice- International Standard Geological Timescale. Chairman) and Stephen Hesselbo (Secretary). A previous requirement for all units to be so Since the International Geological Congress defined by the 2008 International Geological in Oslo this year (I have never known the Congress in 2008 was quietly dropped by precise date of the changeover!) they now IUGS on the recommendation of a Review have responsibility for guiding the Jurassic Committee, so there is no longer a specific Subcommission. I have known personally for deadline. This has two consequences – one is several years the three new Executive that decisions do not need to be rushed and members and I have full confidence in their possibly premature, the second is that there is abilities. They have all my best wishes and no longer the impetus to get on with the job. I my support. can detect both in our current situation. It is impossible to define their The importance of having GSSPs for responsibilities! The Executive does not have chronostratigraphic units is that it removes any power, in the sense of being able to tell any ambiguity in the definition of a boundary anyone what should be done, and very and that it gives precision to the boundary, limited financial resources to commission perhaps somewhat spurious in practice when anyone to do something. All they can do is it comes to correlation. It is important that request and encourage individuals to GSSP definitions are respected by the whole collaborate and undertake tasks that are community, even those individuals who regarded as a priority for the Subcommission would have preferred a different definition, if – so there is a large element of personnel we are to have confidence in the meaning of management and relations. The Executive is our standard chronostratigrapic scale and also answerable to the members of the geological timescale. I recall, for example, Jurassic community in one direction and to that British Jurassic stratigraphers in the late the International Commission on 1960s had to accept an Aalenian Stage where Stratigraphy (ICS) and the International previously they had Lower Bajocian. A even Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in the more intriguing story, told by Henri Tintant other – giving an element of geopolitics and during a lunch break in the Stuttgart diplomacy. For the first group this Newsletter Symposium of 1977, was that the decision of is the primary means of communication; for French Jurassic stratigraphers to accept a the second it is the Annual Report, helped by revised definition of the Kimmeridgian, with the fact that the Subcommission Chairman is the consequence that some overlying a full member of the ICS. limestones were now part of the 1 Kimmeridgian, necessitated a redefinition of of the Toarcian Stage be placed at the base of the Appelation Controlé for the wine Chablis. bed 15e in the Ponta da Trovao section, Who says stratigraphy is not important?!!! Peniche, Portugal. The basis for a proposal These “ancient” examples will, no doubt, will be papers published in the proceedings have some resonances for today, with the of the meeting of the Toarcian Working proposed GSSP definitions for the base of the Group in Peniche in July 2005. The formal Hettangian Stage/Jurassic System and for the proposal, based partly on files left by Serge base of the Kimmeridgian Stage. Elmi, is being prepared by Rogerio Rocha, Antonio Goy and colleagues. A ballot within Hettangian/base Jurassic: The various the Working Group will be held before proposals, six in all, for the definition of the submission to the Jurassic Subcommission. Hettangian Stage and the Jurassic System were given in the July 2007 ISJS Newsletter Aalenian/Middle Jurassic: The GSSP for the no. 34, Part 1 and in the 2008 ISJS base of the Stage and the Series was ratified Newsletter 35, Part 1. The saga of the by IUGS in 2000. Definition of the Standard subsequent deliberations, discussions and Zones/Subzones should be the next task. decisions by votes in the Working Group is also reported in ISJS Newsletter 35, Part 1. Bajocian: The GSSP for the base of the The resulting proposals of the GSSP in the Stage was ratified by IUGS in 1996. The Kuhjoch section, Austria and ASSP in the Working Group should now investigate Ferguson Hill section, Nevada, USA, were definition of substages and formal definition approved by over the required 60% majority of Standard Zones/Subzones. (in fact two thirds) of the Voting Members of the Jurassic Subcommission in June and Bathonian: The definition of the base of this August 2008. The subsequent proposal stage by the GSSP at the base of limestone (revised) to ICS in mid August met the bed RB071 in the Ravin du Bès section, Bas problem of the changes of ICS personnel and Auran, near Digne, Haute-Alpes, France and has not yet been processed. There are, of by the ASSP in the Cabo Mondego section, course, a minority of members of the Jurassic Portugal was ratified by IUGS in July 2008. Subcommission who are not happy with the proposals for various reasons. For me the Callovian: The section and level to be main problem to be resolved concerns the proposed as GSSP for the base of the carbon-isotope stratigraphy and correlations. Callovian Stage was decided some time ago, However, for a proposal to be accepted it is but a formal proposal to the Jurassic not necessary to have resolved all problems. Subcommission seems to be still some way off. Sinemurian: The GSSP for the base of the Stage having been ratified by IUGS in 2000, Oxfordian/Upper Jurassic: There is a the main question for the future working mixture of progress and frustration to report group concerns division into substages and about this boundary. The Convenor of the the boundary definition. Working Group has made great efforts to achieve detailed proposals to the Working Pliensbachian: The working group are Group for the two leading candidate sections exploring the definition of the boundary – Redcliff Point (Dorset) and Savournon between the Lower and Upper Pliensbachian, (Provence) – and has been personally see ISJS Newsletter 34/2, pp. 8-13. Use of involved in both. As reported last year, most formal names for the substages (in this case of the data and reports on the Redcliff section Carixian and Domerian) should be have been received but not those on the discouraged so as not to multiply the list of Savournon section. There seemed to be a names. failure of communication, for whatever reason.