The organisation of sedimentary rocks into units on the basis of the fossils they contain (see also biozone).
Ages, differentiation, and correlation of rock intervals based on the study of contained fossils.
n. The study of rock layers (e.g., distribution, environment of deposition, age) based on their fossils; biostratigraphic- adj.
An area of stratigraphy involving the study of fossilized plants and animals to establish dates for and correlations between stratigraphic layers.
Biostratigraphy is a part of palaeontology that deals with using fossils to work out how two units of rock ('strata') relate in space and time.
Biostratigraphy is the science of dating rocks by using the fossils contained within them. Usually the aim is correlation, that is, demonstrating that a particular horizon in one geological section represents the same period of time as another horizon at some other section. The fossils are useful because sediments of the same age can look completely different because of local variations in the sedimentary environment.