Position of the base of the Quaternary in West Siberia (based on paleobotanical and paleomagnetic evidence)

This study reviews a possible new position of the base of the Quaternary in West Siberia based on paleobotanical and paleomagnetic data in view of ratification of ICS recommendations by the IUGS Executive Committee and the decision of the Interdepartmental Commission on the Quaternary Stratigraphy of Russia to lower the base of the Quaternary (and, therefore, the base of the Pleistocene) at 2.58 Ma. The paleobotanical and paleomagnetic data from two horizons on the West Siberian plain (Kulunda, attributed in part to the formerly Neogene Gelasian Stage, and Kochki, attributed to the Quaternary) were used to identify global cooling that occurred synchronously with a regional cooling phase determined at the base of the Gelasian at Monte San Nicola, Italy.