Is there an isotopic signature of the Anthropocene?

Dean, Jonathan R.; Leng, Melanie J.; Mackay, Anson W.

doi:10.1177/2053019614541631

Cited by 60 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Furthermore, the large, short-lived increase in bomb-produced 14 C production has left a marked signal in carbon-bearing matter formed after the onset of extensive nuclear tests after 1950 CE (Dean et al, 2014). This ' 14 C bomb peak' (Fig.…”

Section: Gssp Versus Gssa and Precise Placement Of Boundarymentioning

confidence: 98%

When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Williams

et al. 2015

Quaternary International

590

326

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We evaluate the boundary of the Anthropocene geological time interval as an epoch, since it is useful to have a consistent temporal definition for this increasingly used unit, whether the presently informal term is eventually formalized or not. Of the three main levels suggested - an 'early Anthropocene' level some thousands of years ago; the beginning of the Industrial Revolution at similar to 1800 CE (Common Era); and the 'Great Acceleration' of the mid-twentieth century - current evidence suggests that the last of these has the most pronounced and globally synchronous signal. A boundary at this time need not have a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP or 'golden spike') but can be defined by a Global Standard Stratigraphic Age (GSSA), i.e. a point in time of the human calendar. We propose an appropriate boundary level here to be the time of the world's first nuclear bomb explosion, on July 16th 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico; additional bombs were detonated at the average rate of one every 9.6 days until 1988 with attendant worldwide fallout easily identifiable in the chemostratigraphic record. Hence, Anthropocene deposits would be those that may include the globally distributed primary artificial radionuclide signal, while also being recognized using a wide range of other stratigraphic criteria. This suggestion for the Holocene-Anthropocene boundary may ultimately be superseded, as the Anthropocene is only in its early phases, but it should remain practical and effective for use by at least the current generation of scientists. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

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Section: Gssp Versus Gssa and Precise Placement Of Boundarymentioning

confidence: 98%

When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Williams

et al. 2015

Quaternary International

590

326

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“…In many regions of the world, lakes are now more controlled by anthropogenic forcing than by natural drivers (Wilkinson et al 2014) and it has even been suggested that stratigraphic changes observed in lake sediments such as changes in isotopic or diatom composition could be used to characterise the start of the proposed Anthropocene era (Wolfe et al 2013, Dean et al 2014). Whilst we do not want to enter here into the wider debate of whether a 'golden spike' can be defined it is useful to consider the extent to which remote lakes are impacted by human activity and whether any can still be considered 'pristine'.…”

Section: Introduction and Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of global pollution and recent environmental change in Kamchatka, Russia

Jones

Self

Solovieva

et al. 2015

Global and Planetary Change

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Kamchatka is a remote, isolated and understudied area and is presumed to be pristine. Here we present the first high-resolution palaeolimnological investigation of the recent past. A short core representing the last 250 years was taken from Olive-backed Lake situated in central Kamchatka. Lead-210 dating revealed that sediment accumulation has increased at the site since the 1960s and may be related to greater rates of catchment erosion associated with wetter winters in the region. Mercury and spheroidal carbonaceous particles (an unambiguous indicator of fossil fuel combustion) concentrations are low but clearly detectable indicating that both regional and global pollution sources are observed at this site. The recent increase in the flux of mercury is more related to catchment sources and catchment erosion than increases from regional or global sources. The diatom and chironomid populations are stable and do not show any statistically significant changes related to either the low levels of pollution, or to temperature and precipitation changes. The lake is not pristine since anthropogenic contamination has occurred but since there have been no significant effects on the flora and fauna the lake can be considered to be unimpacted. Olive-backed Lake may be a suitable reference site to benchmark the natural variability of a lake ecosystem.

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“…demic articles have examined the stratigraphic criteria required to recognize the Anthropocene as a new formal chronostratigraphic unit characterized by unprecedented human-induced transformations after the Industrial Revolution and/or the "Great Acceleration" that followed World War II (Steffen et al, 2016;Swindles et al, 2015;. Hence, there is growing interest in validating unambiguous globally traceable time-stratigraphic markers of the human footprint on the Earth system, including artificial radionuclides, atmospheric CO 2 levels, patterns in environmental isotopes, fly ash particles, plastic pollution and/or anthropogenic soils (Certini and Scalenghe, 2011;Dean et al, 2014;Swindles et al, 2015;Waters et al, 2016;Zalasiewicz et al, 2017).…”

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confidence: 99%

Geohistorical records of the Anthropocene in Chile

Gayó

McRostie

Campbell

et al. 2019

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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The deep-time dynamics of coupled socio-ecological systems at different spatial scales is viewed as a key framework to understand trends and mechanisms that have led to the Anthropocene. By integrating archeological and paleoenvironmental records, we test the hypothesis that Chilean societies progressively escalated their capacity to shape national biophysical systems as socio-cultural complexity and pressures on natural resources increased over the last three millennia. We demonstrate that Pre-Columbian societies intentionally transformed Chile’s northern and central regions by continuously adjusting socio-cultural practices and/or incorporating technologies that guaranteed resource access and social wealth. The fact that past human activities led to cumulative impacts on diverse biophysical processes, not only contradicts the notion of pristine pre-Industrial Revolution landscapes, but suggests that the Anthropocene derives from long-term processes that have operated uninterruptedly since Pre-Columbian times. Moreover, our synthesis suggests that most of present-day symptoms that describe the Anthropocene are rooted in pre-Columbian processes that scaled up in intensity over the last 3000 years, accelerating after the Spanish colonization and, more intensely, in recent decades. The most striking trend is the observed coevolution between the intensity of metallurgy and heavy-metal anthropogenic emissions. This entails that the Anthropocene cannot be viewed as a universal imprint of human actions that has arisen as an exclusive consequence of modern industrial societies. In the Chilean case, this phenomenon is intrinsically tied to historically and geographically diverse configurations in society-environment feedback relationships. Taken collectively with other case studies, the patterns revealed here could contribute to the discussion about how the Anthropocene is defined globally, in terms of chronology, stratigraphic markers and attributes. Furthermore, this deep-time narrative can potentially become a science-based instrument to shape better-informed discourses about the socio-environmental history in Chile. More importantly, however, this research provides crucial “baselines” to delineate safe operating spaces for future socio-ecological systems.

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Is there an isotopic signature of the Anthropocene?

Cited by 60 publications

References 77 publications

When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal

When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal

Evidence of global pollution and recent environmental change in Kamchatka, Russia

Geohistorical records of the Anthropocene in Chile

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