The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene

Abstract

Human activity is leaving a pervasive and persistent signature on Earth. Vigorous debate continues about whether this warrants recognition as a new geologic time unit known as the Anthropocene. We review anthropogenic markers of functional changes in the Earth system through the stratigraphic record. The appearance of manufactured materials in sediments, including aluminum, plastics, and concrete, coincides with global spikes in fallout radionuclides and particulates from fossil fuel combustion. Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles have been substantially modified over the past century. Rates of sea-level rise and the extent of human perturbation of the climate system exceed Late Holocene changes. Biotic changes include species invasions worldwide and accelerating rates of extinction. These combined signals render the Anthropocene stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene and earlier epochs.

Ideas and perspectives: Strengthening the biogeosciences in environmental research networks

“…As geologists debate Earth's transitions over all geological time periods, the time period from the Holocene to the Anthropocene Epoch (Waters et al, 2016) is particularly important, as a variety of environmental research networks are quantifying biogeophysical changes in the planet from local to global scales. A foray online can find environmental networks engaged in monitoring changes in lakes (Sier and Monteith, 2016), soil organic carbon (Smith et al, 2002), wind erosion (Webb et al, 2016), and agricultural ecosystems (Robertson et al, 2008) to name a few.…”

“…With EONs, the emphasis is on collecting biologically and ecologically relevant data across wide spatial areas (Walters and Scholes, 2016), which are made available to the wider research community for analysis. The intent is to identify ecological patterns over time that may not be visible using smaller data streams created from individual research sites.…”

De‐extinction and Taking Control of Earth's “Metabolism”

“…3 The prevalence of anthropogenic materials such as concrete, aluminum, and plastic in sediments around the world, the accelerated rate of species extinction, the marked changes in atmospheric chemistry, and the global rise in sea levels all suggest that Earth's systems have been functionally transformed by the works of humans. Sediments studied by future geologists will pay testament to this fact.…”

Bibliothèques et décroissance1

“…Pour une autre position que celle du discours dominant tenu par la Banque mondiale et le FMI sur la « réduction de la pauvreté » à l'échelle mondiale, voir par exemple Kirk (2015 Crutzen & Stoermer (2000). Voir aussi Steffen et al (2011), l'analyse de Fernández Durán (2011), les considérations de Hamilton (2015), Zalasiewicz et al (2014), Ruiz de Elvira (2015) et Waters et al (2016), et les textes de Scranton (2013de Scranton ( , 2015. …”