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Where is the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary?

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Cenozoic migration routes — Cenozoic Era Principal Cenozoic faunal migration routes and barriers.

The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Pleistocene Epoch is located on the southern slope of Monte San Nicola near Gela, Sicily, Italy.12

This boundary is defined by the base of the Gelasian Stage, which was ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in 2009 to mark the beginning of the Pleistocene. The marker is situated in marly shales that lie atop a sapropel layer known as Mediterranean Precession Related Sapropels (MPRS) 250. Geologically, this point is positioned approximately one meter above the Gauss-Matuyama paleomagnetic boundary and slightly below the final occurrence of the calcareous nannofossil Discoaster pentaradiatus.132

Previously, the base of the Pleistocene was defined at the Vrica section in Calabria, Italy, but the current international agreement establishes the Gelasian base at Monte San Nicola as the official start of the Pleistocene Series.132