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Corrected age of the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary

Nature volume 269, pages 483–488 (1977)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 10 November 1977

Abstract

Calcareous plankton datum-events are referred to the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary at Le Castella, the stratotype Calabrian at Santa Maria di Catanzaro, and to deep-sea sediments in six piston cores. The boundary is correlated by multiple overlapping criteria to a level equivalent to, or slightly younger than, the top of the Olduvai Event, giving a revised estimate of about 1.6 Myr for the age of the boundary. The Pliocene I Pleistocene boundary is thus coeval with the earliest of four major climatic deteriorations in the Pleistocene, reconciling palaeoclimatic concepts with the chrono-stratigtaphical definition of the epoch.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543

    Bilal U. Haq & W. A. Berggren

  2. University of Colorado Museum, Boulder, Colorado, 80302

    John A. Van Couvering

Authors
  1. Bilal U. Haq
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  2. W. A. Berggren
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  3. John A. Van Couvering
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Additional information

The erratum article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1038/270191b0

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Haq, B., Berggren, W. & Van Couvering, J. Corrected age of the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. Nature 269, 483–488 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/269483a0

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