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Biostratigraphy

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Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definition and introduction

Biostratigraphy (from Gr. bios, life; L. stratum, bed; Gr. grapho, write (Brown, 1991)) is arguably one of the most broadly used stratigraphic methods in Earth Sciences and concurrently one of the most misrepresented/misunderstood disciplines. In a strict sense, biostratigraphy is the objectivesubdivision of the stratigraphic record based on its paleontological content for the purpose of relative dating and correlation, and, as such, it is described in international stratigraphic guides and national codes. In the broadest sense, biostratigraphy encompasses the whole spectrum of disciplines that reconstruct various facets of Earth history from its sedimentary record, for academic and industrial purposes. In this view, biostratigraphy is central to the reconstructions of paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic history, the formulation of evolutionary theories, the description of sedimentary architecture and of sea level history, and, foremost, the discovery of...

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Acknowledgments

I am most grateful to Jack Rink for inviting me to contribute to this entry on biostratigraphy; to W. A. Berggren, D. Bord, P. N. Pearson, W. Si, and J. A. Van Couvering for the discussion and their review of this entry; and to Sarah Klingler for the artwork.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854-8066, USA

    Marie-Pierre Aubry

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  1. Marie-Pierre Aubry
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Correspondence to Marie-Pierre Aubry .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    W. Jack Rink  & Jeroen W. Thompson  & 

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Aubry, MP. (2015). Biostratigraphy. In: Jack Rink, W., Thompson, J.W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6304-3_192

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