Statement Regarding the Chibanian

Statement Regarding the Chibanian

1st July, 2018

The Geological Society of Japan
President Hiroki Matsuda

In June last year, a research group consisting of 32 Japanese scientists from 22 institutes submitted a proposal to the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) for the Chiba Section (the geological section at Tabuchi, Ichihara, Chiba Pref.) to be recognized as a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) to define the Lower-Middle Pleistocene boundary. The proposal was subsequently examined at the Working Group on L-M Boundary of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) affiliated to the IUGS. In November 2017, the Working Group voted to approve the Chiba Section proposal and the result was reported to the executive committee of the IUGS. The IUGS later announced that a separate group from within Japan has raised objections to the proposal including casting doubt on the value of the scientific data used to support the proposal, and the final decision-making process
of the IUGS has been suspended from April this year.