TY - JOUR
T1 - The Anthropocene is a prospective epoch/series, not a geological event
AU - Head, Martin J.
AU - Zalasiewicz, Jan A.
AU - Waters, Colin N.
AU - Turner, Simon D.
AU - Williams, Mark
AU - Barnosky, Anthony D.
AU - Steffen, Will
AU - Wagreich, Michael
AU - Haff, Peter K.
AU - Syvitski, Jaia
AU - Leinfelder, Reinhold
AU - McCarthy, Francine M.G.
AU - Rose, Neil L.
AU - Wing, Scott L.
AU - An, Zhisheng
AU - Cearreta, Alejandro
AU - Cundy, Andrew B.
AU - Fairchild, Ian J.
AU - Han, Yongming
AU - Ivar do Sul, Juliana A.
AU - Jeandel, Catherine
AU - McNeill, J. R.
AU - Summerhayes, Colin P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 International Union of Geological Sciences. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - The Anthropocene defined as an epoch/series within the Geological Time Scale, and with an isochronous inception in the mid-20th century, would both utilize the rich array of stratigraphic signals associated with the Great Acceleration and align with Earth System science analysis from where the term Anthropocene originated. It would be stratigraphically robust and reflect the reality that our planet has far exceeded the range of natural variability for the Holocene Epoch/Series which it would terminate. An alternative, recently advanced, time-transgressive 'geological event' definition would decouple the Anthropocene from its stratigraphic characterisation and association with a major planetary perturbation. We find this proposed anthropogenic 'event' to be primarily an interdisciplinary concept in which historical, cultural and social processes and their global environmental impacts are all flexibly interpreted within a multi-scalar framework. It is very different from a stratigraphic-methods-based Anthropocene epoch/series designation, but as an anthropogenic phenomenon, if separately defined and differently named, might be usefully complementary to it.
AB - The Anthropocene defined as an epoch/series within the Geological Time Scale, and with an isochronous inception in the mid-20th century, would both utilize the rich array of stratigraphic signals associated with the Great Acceleration and align with Earth System science analysis from where the term Anthropocene originated. It would be stratigraphically robust and reflect the reality that our planet has far exceeded the range of natural variability for the Holocene Epoch/Series which it would terminate. An alternative, recently advanced, time-transgressive 'geological event' definition would decouple the Anthropocene from its stratigraphic characterisation and association with a major planetary perturbation. We find this proposed anthropogenic 'event' to be primarily an interdisciplinary concept in which historical, cultural and social processes and their global environmental impacts are all flexibly interpreted within a multi-scalar framework. It is very different from a stratigraphic-methods-based Anthropocene epoch/series designation, but as an anthropogenic phenomenon, if separately defined and differently named, might be usefully complementary to it.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136783304&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.18814/epiiugs/2022/022025
DO - 10.18814/epiiugs/2022/022025
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85136783304
VL - 46
SP - 229
EP - 238
JO - Episodes: journal of international geoscience
JF - Episodes: journal of international geoscience
SN - 0705-3797
IS - 2
ER -