On February 20 and 21, the annual meeting of the Stratigraphic Commission of Germany (DSK) will take place in Münster for the first time. The event is being organized by the Palaeontology Working Group under the direction of Prof. Becker, the current DSK chairman.

The DSK deals with questions of geological history and stratigraphy. It is a working group of the German National Committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and advises the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). Its tasks include the revision of the Stratigraphic Table of Germany and the digital lexicon “Litholex”, which covers all lithostratigraphic units of German geological maps. It also publishes standard scientific works and coordinates the work of its subcommissions.

A new task of the DSK is the more precise definition and international coordination of the regional German geological ages (e.g. Siegenian, Muschelkalk, Malm). This should help to make better use of geological and palaeontological data for regional and global analyses - for example on European palaeogeography, climate development, changes in palaeobiodiversity or the distribution of deposits.

Furthermore the Geomuseum will be presented at the meeting in Münster.