DATES AND RATES: Temporal Resolution in the Deep Time Stratigraphic Record*

The level of achievable stratigraphic resolution determines the nature of the many ecological, evolutionary, and geological questions for which a reasonable answer may be expected. Advances in correlation techniques and in high-resolution radiometric dating and their integration with the fossil record through quantitative biostratigraphy and potentially orbital cyclicity now allows many questions about rates of geological, geochemical, and evolutionary processes to be extended into deep time.