The International Subcommission on Jurassic Stratigraphy

The International Subcommission on Jurassic Stratigraphy (ISJS) is both an official body of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and an informal association of geologists (mainly professional but also amateur) who have an interest in research on the Jurassic. It has as its primary responsibility achievement of international agreement on the definition of the chronostratigraphic subdivisions (the main time-rock units) of the Jurassic in the International Chronostratigraphic Scale, on which the geological time-scale is based. At present, these are to be defined at the level of Stages (e.g. Sinemurian, Pliensbachian, Aalenian and Bajocian already formally defined). As an informal association, the activities of the Subcommission are directed mainly towards encouraging and enabling international communication (achieved through the electronic publication of the ISJS Newsletter) and collaboration in research on the Jurassic (particularly through the sponsorship of the International Symposia/Congresses on the Jurassic System, held every four years). The current organization and structure of the Subcommission are summarized, together with a brief account of its main activities.