Felix M. Gradstein (born 1941, in the Netherlands) is a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

-Canadian academic and a pioneer in

quantitative stratigraphy Quantitative may refer to: * Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties * Quantitative analysis (disambiguation) * Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry * Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis * ...

and

geologic time scale The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochro ...

. At the University of Utrecht, he studied paleontology and stratigraphy, obtaining his Ph.D. taking a novel biometrical approach in micropaleontology, under the supervision of Professor CW Drooger. In 1976, after working two years for an oil company in Calgary, Canada, he joined the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...

in its eastern division at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Nova Scotia. During his research there, he was instrumental in developing a novel quantitative method for the analysis of stratigraphic events. In 1992 Felix moved to Norway where he currently has an office at the University of Oslo and is visiting research fellow at University of Portsmouth, UK. From 1985 - 1989, he was chairman of International Geoscience Project (IGCP) 181 on Quantitative Stratigraphy. From 2000 to 2008 he was chair of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and in 2010 was instrumental in founding the Geologic Time Scale Foundation. For his fundamental work concerning the Geologic Time Scale, geochronology in general, quantitative stratigraphy, and micropaleontology, the

European Geosciences Union The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is a non-profit international union in the fields of Earth, planetary, and space sciences whose vision is to "realise a sustainable and just future for humanity and for the planet". The organisation has headq ...

awarded him in 2010 the Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal. Prof. Gradstein, a world-renowned stratigrapher discussed debates over the

Geologic Time Scale The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochro ...

with the

Anthropocene working Group The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) is an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to the study of the Anthropocene as a geological time unit. It was established in 2009 as part of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS), a constitu ...

. As a micropaleontologist and marine stratigrapher Felix also was an active participant in expeditions of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) and International Ocean Drilling Project (IODP). As a co-chief scientist in 1980 on DSDP Leg 76 in the Blake Bahama Basin the age of the Atlantic Ocean (~ 165 Ma) was discovered.Gradstein, F.M. and Sheridan, R.E., 1983. On the Jurassic Atlantic Ocean and a synthesis of results of Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 76. In Sheridan, R.E., Gradstein, F.M. et al., Init. Repts. DSDP, 76: Washington (U.S. Govt. Printing Office), p. 913-945.

Education

Employment

* 2014–2017: Visiting professor, Micropaleontology/Stratigraphy Institute (ITT Fossil) of Unisinos, Sao Leopoldo, Brasil. * 2001–2014: Professor II in Stratigraphy/Micropaleontology,

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

(NHM),

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

* 1995–2000: Senior Stratigrapher,

Saga Petroleum Saga Petroleum ASA was a Norwegian upstream petroleum company established in 1972 that was acquired by Norsk Hydro in 1999. In October 2007 it was made part of Statoil. The company was the only fully private oil company in Norway. It had part ...

, Norway * 1974–1995: Senior Stratigrapher,

* 1972–1974: Stratigrapher,

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

, Canada

Awards and honors

*Best Book Award of the

Romanian Academy of Sciences The Romanian Academy of Sciences was an institution established in Romania by a group of 26 scientists, dissatisfied with the imperfect organization of the Scientific Section of the Romanian Academy, which was left in the background, with only 12 ...

(2007).

Books

* Gradstein FM, Agterberg FP, Brower JC, Schwarzacher WS (1985) ''Quantitative stratigraphy''. Reidel, Dordrecht & UNESCO, Paris, 598 pp * Gradstein FM, Ogg J, Smith A (2004) ''A Geologic Time Scale''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 589 pp * Gradstein, FM, Ogg, J., Schmitz, MB, Ogg, GM (rds, 2012) ''Geologic Time Scale'' 2012, two volumes, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1144pp. * Gradstein FM, Ogg J, Schmitz MB, Ogg GM (eds, 2020) ''Geologic Time Scale'' 2020. Two volumes, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1357 pp * Kaminski, M.A. and Gradstein, F.M., 2005. ''Atlas of Cosmopolitan Deep Water Agglutinated Foraminifera (Paleogene)''. Memoir, Grzybowski Foundation, 500 pp., 140 plates (book).

Selected publications

* Gradstein FM (1974) Mediterranean Pliocene Globorotalia – a biometrical approach. PhD thesis, Utrecht Univ, published by Krips Repro, Meppel, Netherlands, 128 pp * Gradstein FM, Agterberg FP (1982) Models of Cenozoic Foraminiferal Stratigraphy – Northwestern Atlantic Margin. In: Cubitt JM, Reyment RA (eds) Quantitative Stratigraphic Correlation. Wiley, New York, pp. 119–173 * Gradstein, Felix and Waskowska, Anna, 2021. New insights into the taxonomy and evolution of Jurassic planktonic foraminifera. Swiss J Palaeontol (2021) 140:1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-020-0 * Felix Gradstein, Anna Waskowska and Larisa Glinskikh, 2021. The First 40 Million Years of Planktonic Foraminifera. Geosciences 2021, 11, 85. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11020085 * Kent DV, Gradstein FM (1986) A Jurassic to Recent geochronology. In: Vogt PR, Tucholke (eds) The geology of North America Vol M: The Western North Atlantic Region. Geological Society of America, Boulder Colorado, pp 45–50

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gradstein, Felix M. 1941 births Living people Utrecht University alumni Micropaleontologists Geological Survey of Canada personnel Academic staff of the University of Oslo