Global Stratotype Section and Point for base of the Sinemurian Stage (Lower Jurassic)

Gert Bloos; Kevin N. Page

doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2002/v25i1/003

HOME Article View

Article

Episodes 2002; 25(1): 22-28

Published online March 1, 2002

https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2002/v25i1/003

Global Stratotype Section and Point for base of the Sinemurian Stage (Lower Jurassic)

Gert Bloos¹, Kevin N. Page²

¹Staatliches Museum fuer Naturkunde, Rosenstein 1, D-70191 Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany.
²Department of Geological Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drakes Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, United Kingdom.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The Global Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Sinemurian, the second stage of the Lower Jurassic (Lias), is exposed in the cliff north of the village of East Quantoxhead, around 6 km east of Watchet, in the administrative district of West Somerset, southwestern England. The boundary level is 0.90 m above the base of Bed 145 coinciding with the ﬁrst appearance of the genera Vermiceras (V. quantoxense, V. palmeri) and Metophioceras (M. sp. indet. 1). The basal ammonite assemblage of the Sinemurian in the GSSP is earlier than all other assemblages known elsewhere in Europe. In Europe, a stratigraphical gap between both stages is generally present. Correlation with other faunal provinces is possible using the ﬁrst appearance of Metophioceras s. str.