Cambrian Stratotype Section (GSSP ‘Golden Spike’ in Paibi, Huayuan, Hunan

This geological boundary is located in Paibi Village in Huayuan County, Hunan Province. In August 2003, the International Union of Geological Sciences approved the bottom boundary of the ‘Paibian Stage’ and the ‘Furongian Series’ bottom boundary as a global stratotype standard section and point (i.e., the ‘Golden Spike’, or GSSP). The ‘Paibian Stage’ became the first primary global standard unit of the Cambrian, and the ‘Furongian Series’ became the first standard system unit. In 2005, the Cambrian branch of the International Commission on Stratigraphy approved the global division of Cambrian System into four series and ten stages. The GSSP number four ‘Furongian Series’ and stage number eight ‘Paibian Stage’ are based on the Paibi geological section in Huayuan County, western Hunan Province. The rock layers of this section extend across the Middle and Upper Cambrian Huaqiao Formation and are composed of micrite and rudstone with a total thickness of 388.5 m (not measured to the top),...