This proposal requests a travel grant for three American members of the mid-Carboniferous Boundary Working Group of the Subcommission on Carboniferous Stratigraphy (IUGS, ICS) to attend the 11th International Carboniferous Congress in China from mid-August to early September, 1987. Cost is $9,655 which will be used for coach airfare, field trip expenses, registration, room, meals and administrative fees. The Working Group is charged with locating a mid-Carboniferous boundary stratotype based on the first stratigraphic occurrence of the conodont species Declinognathodus noduliferous. A boundary stratotype at this level is desirable for North American stratigraphers because it coincides with the Mississippian- Pennsylvanian boundary. Participation by American members in this and future Working Group meetings is necessary to ensure selection of the boundary at this position and to promote acceptance of the North American classification by the international geological community.
