Distributed by Elsevier Science on behalf of Science Press. Biostratigraphic data are basic to geological and palaeontological research. This book presents up-to-date material and research achievements in biostratigraphy in recent decades in China, and provides a variety of knowledge to lay a solid foundation for geologists and palaeontologists worldwide. It consists of 13 chapters covering 13 major geological systems. Every chapter addresses tectonic sedimentary domains, current biostratigraphic systems, series boundaries, faunal/floral succession, evolutionary trends and bioevents, correlation of the standard columns in China with other part of the world, facies patterns, palaeobiogeography and palaeogeography. * Up-to-date and authoritative data basic to geologic research about China and all Asia * Concepts, procedures and classification follow modern international standards updated to the present * Written by leading Chinese geologists and palaeontologists

The print edition is published as 2 hardback volumes, parts A and B, and sold as a set. The Carboniferous was the time of the assembly of Pangaea by the collision of the Gondwanan and Larussian supercontinents, and the principal interval of the late Paleozoic ice ages. These tectonic and climatic events caused dramatic sea-level fluctuations and climate changes and produced a Carboniferous world that was diverse topographically and climatologically, perhaps only rivalled in that diversity by the late Cenozoic world. Furthermore, the Carboniferous was a time of the accumulation of vast coal deposits of great economic and societal significance. The temporal ordering of geological and biotic events during Carboniferous time thus is critical to the interpretation of some unique and pivotal events in Earth history. This temporal ordering is based on the Carboniferous timescale, which has been developed and refined for nearly two centuries. This book reviews the history of the development of the Carboniferous chronostratigraphic scale and includes comprehensive analyses of Carboniferous radioisotopic ages, magnetostratigraphy, isotope-based correlations, cyclostratigraphy and timescale-relevant marine and non-marine biostratigraphy and biochronology.