What is it about?
The first attempt to identify a specific marker of the Anthropocene was done by Paul J. Crutzen, the Nobel Laureate who popularized the term ‘Anthropocene,’ originally coined by Eugene F. Stoermer. He advanced the “Age of Man” to have started in the late eighteenth century
Featured Image
Why is it important?
it is plausible that understanding and defining the Anthropocene cannot lie solely within the remit of the Earth sciences but must imply the employment of data sources, in particular documentary records, that partially bypass conventional stratigraphy.
Perspectives
There have been several attempts to establish a formal stratigraphic marker to define the start of the Anthropocene. None of the proposed markers succeed in entirely fulfilling all such requirements. We have advanced for this purpose the Anthropogenic soils, i.e., those soils that are significantly affected by human activities, such as repeated ploughing, massive addition of materials, or sealing.
Riccardo SCALENGHE
Universita degli Studi di Palermo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Holocene as Anthropocene, Science, July 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science,
DOI: 10.1126/science.349.6245.246-a.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
