It is cycles of the Milankovitch band that are showing promise of enabling new practical timescales to be established for parts of the geological record. These depend on changes in the Earth-Sun distance and changes in the tilt of the Earth's axis with respect to the Earth's orbit round the Sun. There is increasing evidence that small-scale sedimentary rhythmic couplets may represent the effect of such changes. The papers in this volume represent major new developments in sedimentological, paIaeontological, geochemical and stratigraphical research being undertaken in this field.