The New Zealand Geological Timescale

Publication

Our research has resulted in the establishment of the first fully integrated, comprehensive geological timescale for New Zealand, from Cambrian to Holocene.

Overview

The New Zealand Geological Timescale is a regional geochronological timescale for the Permian to Pleistocene and comprises a sequence of stages defined in New Zealand outcrop sections. The local stages have served an important role in fine-scale geological mapping since the mid-20th Century, and continue to provide a standard for stratigraphic subdivision by integrating biostratigraphic data from various fossil groups with other stratigraphic criteria.

This is fully described in GNS Science Monograph 22 "The New Zealand Geological Timescale" by Roger Cooper and co-contributors (2004).(external link)

The status of the New Zealand stages is reviewed in a 2015 publication by Ian Raine and co-authors. This revision, which is focused on age-calibration of the stage boundaries, is based on calibration of the International Geological Timescale by Gradstein et al. (2012), and is consistent with the International Chronostratigraphic Chart 2014/10 (Cohen et al. 2014).

The New Zealand Geological Timescale 2015 is also available as a ready-reference card from GNS Science Publications. A wall chart version of the card and a detailed summary table can be downloaded below.

Raine Ian 1939

Ian Raine Emeritus Scientist

Research Interests Palynology of Permian to Cenozoic strata for regional geological mapping, sedimentary basin studies, petroleum and coalfield exploration, biostratigraphic and taxonomic research, melissopalynology. Current projects include taxonomic and biostratigraphic study of New Zealand Jurassic and Cretaceous palynomorphs, vegetation and climate change at the Cretaceous-Tertiary and Paleocene-Eocene boundaries, biogeography of Cenozoic Antarctic and southern high latitude floras, and development of taxonomy databases. Also involved in research on the New Zealand honey flora, bee forage, and the definition of monofloral honeys.

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