Egypt - Dababiya

The site is a Paleocene/Eocene Boundary Stratotype. Global Standard-stratotype Sections and Points (GSSP) provide the means to stabilize chrono-stratigraphy. These carefully selected (chrono)stratigraphic horizons serve both as definitions for chronostratigraphic boundaries and references for global correlations. The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) recently has ratified the proposal submitted by Marie-Pierre Aubry (Chairman) on behalf of the Working Group on the Paleocene/Eocene (P/E) boundary to define the P/E GSSP as the base of a characteristic lithologic succession (the Dababiya Quarry Beds) that occurs in the lower part of the Esna Shale, a well known formation that outcrops extensively throughout Egypt. The GSSP is defined in the huge Quarry of Dababiya, located on the eastern bank of the Nile Valley, 35 km South of Luxor. The Dababiya Quarry Beds, 3.5 m thick in the stratotypic section and consisting of 5 distinctive units, constitute a remarkable record of the Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE) and the P/E Thermal Maximum (PETM) whose causes are still being actively debated. Indeed the base of the CIE allows global (i.e., marine-terrestrial) correlations of the base of the Eocene while a host of biostratigraphic data ensures refined correlations in its vicinity.