URI	prefLabel	Definition	Source
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/bed	bed	The smallest formal lithostratigraphic unit; usually a distinctive lithic entity which can be distinguished from adjacent rocks by one or more physical characteristics.	North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature; 2005; Salvador; 1994
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/complex	complex	A lithostratigraphic unit composed of diverse types of any class or classes of rock (sedimentary; igneous; metamorphic); and characterized by irregularly mixed lithology or by hightly complicated structure relations to the extent that the original sequence of the component rocks may be obscured and the individual rocks or rock sequence cannot be readily mapped.	Salvador; A.; ed. 1994. International Stratigraphic Guide: International Union of Geological Sciences; Trondheim; NO; 214 p.
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/formation	formation	A body of rock identified by lithic characteristics and stratigraphic position; it is usually but not necessarily tabular and is mappable at the Earth's surface or traceable in the subsurface.	North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature; 2005; Salvador; 1994
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/group	group	A group is the lithostratigraphic unit next higher in rank to either subgroup or formation. A groups may consist of two or more subgroups or two or more formations or a combination of both.	North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature; 2005;  Salvador; 1994
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/lithodeme	lithodeme	A body of predominantly intrusivehighly deformed and/or highly metamorphosed rock; distinguished and delimited on the basis of rock characteristics.	North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature; 2005
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/megasequence	megasequence	A succession of strata comprising two or more supersequences. A large-scale sequence-stratigraphic unit deposited during one distinct phase of basin evolution; separated by major unconformities that mark a change in fundamental basin-controlling processes.	Haq; B.U.hardenbol; J.; and Vail; P.R.; 1988; Mesozoic and Cenozoic chronostratigraphy an dcycles of sea-level changes; in Wilgus; C.K.; et al.; eds; Sea-level Changes: an Integrated Approach: Society of Sedimentary Geology Special Publication 42; p. 71-108.
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/member	member	A formal lithostratigraphic unit next in rank below a formation; and always part of a formation. It is a named entity within a formation because it possesses characteristics distinguishing it from adjacent parts of the formation.	North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature; 2005; Salvador; 1994
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/rank_not_specified	not specified	unit is not part of a defined stratigraphic hierarchy.	this vocabulary
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/sequence	sequence	A genetically related succession of strata bounded by unconformites or their correlative conformable contacts; and typically having a thickness of 10-100 metres.	Van Wagoner; J.C.; Posamentierh.W.; Mitchum; R.M.; Vail; P.R.; Sarg; J.F.; Loutit; T.S.hardenbol; J.; 1988; An overview of sequence stratigraphy and key definitions. In: Wilgus; C.K.hastings; B.S.; Kendall; C.G.St.C.; Posamentierh.W.; Ross; C.A.; Van Wagoner; J.C. (Eds.); Sea Level Changes??An Integrated Approach; vol. 42. SEPM Special Publication; pp. 39?45.
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/subgroup	subgroup	A subgroup is the lithostratigraphic unit next higher in rank to formation. A subgroup usually consists of several formations.	Salvador; 1994
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/suite	suite	A formal lithodemic unit next higher in rank to lithodeme. It comprises two or more associated lithodemes of the same class (e.g.; plutonic; metamorphic).	North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature; 2005
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/supergroup	supergroup	A supergroup is a formal assemblage of related or superposed groups or of groups and formations	North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature; 2005; Salvador; 1994
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/supersequence	supersequence	A succession of strata comprising two or more sequences	Haq; B.U.hardenbol; J.; and Vail; P.R.; 1988; Mesozoic and Cenozoic chronostratigraphy an dcycles of sea-level changes; in Wilgus; C.K.; et al.; eds; Sea-level Changes: an Integrated Approach: Society of Sedimentary Geology Special Publication 42; p. 71-108.
http://resource.geosciml.org/classifier/cgi/stratigraphicrank/supersuite	supersuite	A formal lithodemic unit next higher in rank to suite. It comprises two or more suites having a degree of natural relationship to one another	North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature; 2005