At the 5th International Congress on Stratigraphy, Chinese scientists presented the world's inaugural AI mega-model tailored for stratigraphy, accompanied by innovative tools, including an intelligent system for comparing global stratigraphic sections. This marks a historic moment where, for the first time, Earth's 4.6-billion-year evolutionary saga will be documented in a universally accessible database. Stratigraphy, a cornerstone of Earth science, provides the framework for deciphering our planet's past. Shen Shuzhong, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, articulated a vision to organize Earth's geological records spanning 4.6 billion years into a coherent sequence, guided by a unified temporal framework and leveraging global big data analytics.

China stands as a preeminent force in stratigraphy, boasting the discovery of 11 'Golden Spikes'—more than any other nation. These markers, internationally recognized, offer a standardized reference point for tracing Earth's evolutionary trajectory. The 5th International Congress on Stratigraphy, the premier gathering of the International Commission on Stratigraphy, made its Asian debut this year. Stretching over five days, the event was co-organized by the International Commission on Stratigraphy and hosted by Nanjing University, drawing a diverse array of experts and scholars from around the globe.