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 Early Palaeozoic was a critical interval in the evolution of marine life on our planet. Through a window of some 120 million years, the Cambrian Explosion, Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, End Ordovician Extinction and the subsequent Silurian Recovery established a steep trajectory of increasing marine biodiversity that started in the Late Proterozoic and continued into the Devonian. Biogeography is a key property of virtually all organisms; their distributional ranges, mapped out on a mosaic of changing palaeogeography, have played important roles in modulating the diversity and evolution of marine life. This Memoir first introduces the content, some of the concepts involved in describing and interpreting palaeobiogeography, and the changing Early Palaeozoic geography is illustrated through a series of time slices. The subsequent 26 chapters, compiled by some 130 authors from over 20 countries, describe and analyse distributional and in many cases diversity data for all the major biotic groups plotted on current palaeogeographic maps. Nearly a quarter of a century after the publication of the ‘Green Book’ (Geological Society, London, Memoir12, edited by McKerrow and Scotese), improved stratigraphic and taxonomic data together with more accurate, digitized palaeogeographic maps, have confirmed the central role of palaeobiogeography in understanding the evolution of Early Palaeozoic ecosystems and their biotas.