II. Mission Statement, Chronos Goals and Applications

Stratigraphy is the study of rocks, their records of the past (fossils, climatic proxies, magnetic polarity, etc.) and their distribution in space and time. The object of stratigraphy is to reconstruct the history of the Earth and eventually of extraterrestrial bodies.

"Stratigraphy is the heart of geology. Without it, the findings of other branches could not be knit into a single historical whole. Stratigraphy makes possible the synthesis of a unified geological science from its component parts." [paraphrased from J. Marvin Weller, 1947]

Chronostratigraphy is stratigraphy within a time frame. Chronostratigraphy is essential for understanding the history of the Earth, because age ties everything together. The assembly of vast amounts of stratigraphic information into databases has created important tools to understand past climatic, evolutionary and geological processes and their implications for future trends on our planet.

This Workshop on Integration of Chronostratigraphic Databases explored how current and future stratigraphic databases can be partially unified into a powerful system for producing a dynamic global timescale and understanding the interrelationships of past geological, climatic and evolutionary trends.

The mission for creating this integrated chronostratigraphic database is:
to produce a dynamic, global timescale to frame Earth history events and processes for societal benefit.

• Assembly, integration and distribution of data relevant to geologic time
• Maintenance of a consensus geological timescale
• Public outreach - communicate to the public the importance of understanding rates in natural processes using the geological timescale
• Research outreach -- Provide a fundamental research tool for the broader geoscience community and a temporal framework for understanding the 4th dimension (rates and processes)

• Life (paleontological assemblages, evolution, biodiversity, extinction, productivity proxies from carbon isotopes and other criteria, terrestrial and marine trends, etc.)
• Climate (orbital forcing, glaciations, temperature records from oxygen isotopes and other proxies, ecosystem changes, dust accumulation, etc.)
• Surface processes (carbon and other biogeochemical cycle monitors, weathering balances from strontium isotopes and other data, sediment accumulation rates, etc.)
• Core-Mantle dynamics (magnetic reversals and intensity trends, rates and directions of plate motions, hydrothermal fluxes of elements, volcanic ash frequency, etc.)
• Catastrophic episodes (iridium and other impact-related anomalies, oceanic anoxia episodes, climatic excursions, etc.)
• Time (absolute ages derived from - radiometric decay, astronomical cycles, annual varves and other methods; and relative ages derived from correlations to global and regional geological stage boundaries)

• Standard Geological Time Scale is the centerpiece of the database, both as a specific deliverable as well as a format for underlying data retrieval.
  • This Standard Time Scale is linked to geochronologic and biostratigraphic time scales for dynamic handling.
  • The Standard Time Scale is based on the highest quality data. An important function of the associated database is to continuously improve the precision and accuracy of this Standard Time Scale.
  • The Standard Time Scale is agreed upon, updated and maintained by the international community.
  • The Standard Time Scale is transparent - the foundation data and interpretation methods are given. Indeed, a user can determine the degree that each datum is critical to the Standard.
• Database readily ties the chronostratigraphic control to the broadest range of correlative biostratigraphic, geological and physical data.
  • Database provides the capability to go to an outcrop and link it to the Standard Time Scale. The database would enable error bars to be placed on the precision of these correlations.
• Chronostratigraphic data should be tiered to focus accuracy and precision of available datasets.
• Database structure must be dynamic as a platform for continuous improvement and revisions.
• Database should be a catalyst for defining new research directions and problems.
• Database would be linked to other Earth System and geoscience resources throughout the world, especially those which have data that bear on the time scale.

• Evolution and controls on biodiversity
• Catastrophes and abrupt climatic change (e.g., the end-Cretaceous impact, the end-Paleocene methane release, the Oligocene transition, ecologic change and recovery following critical events)
• Climate history and climate oscillations (e.g., greenhouse and icehouse trends, orbital forcing, glaciations)
• Basin modeling (sediment and elemental accumulation rates, subsidence and thermal maturity, etc.)
• Rate studies (e.g., magnetic intensity, geochemical fluxes, responses at human timescales)
• High-resolution and high-precession geochronometry (calibrated sets of decay constants, relation of tectonic and volcanic episodes to biologic events, etc.)
• Linkage of systems (e.g., terrestrial vs. marine biogeochemistry, influence of mantle processes on evolution)
• Forward projection (e.g., sea level, climate, atmosphere, and evolution trends)