The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene

Colin N. Waters; Jan Zalasiewicz; Colin Summerhayes; Anthony D. Barnosky; Clément Poirier; Agnieszka Gałuszka; Alejandro Cearreta; Matt Edgeworth; Erle C. Ellis; Michael Ellis; Catherine Jeandel; Reinhold Leinfelder; J. R. McNeill; Daniel De B. Richter; Will Steffen; James Syvitski; Davor Vidas; Michael Wagreich; Mark Williams; An Zhisheng; Jacques Grinevald; Eric Odada; Naomi Oreskes; Alexander P. Wolfe

doi:10.1126/science.aad2622

The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene

Colin N. Waters^*, Jan Zalasiewicz, Colin Summerhayes, Anthony D. Barnosky, Clément Poirier, Agnieszka Gałuszka, Alejandro Cearreta, Matt Edgeworth, Erle C. Ellis, Michael Ellis, Catherine Jeandel, Reinhold Leinfelder, J. R. McNeill, Daniel De B. Richter, Will Steffen, James Syvitski, Davor Vidas, Michael Wagreich, Mark Williams, An ZhishengJacques Grinevald, Eric Odada, Naomi Oreskes, Alexander P. Wolfe

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

1470 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Article number	aad2622
Journal	Science
Volume	351
Issue number	6269
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad2622
Publication status	Published - 8 Jan 2016

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Waters, C. N., Zalasiewicz, J., Summerhayes, C., Barnosky, A. D., Poirier, C., Gałuszka, A., Cearreta, A., Edgeworth, M., Ellis, E. C., Ellis, M., Jeandel, C., Leinfelder, R., McNeill, J. R., Richter, D. D. B., Steffen, W., Syvitski, J., Vidas, D., Wagreich, M., Williams, M., ... Wolfe, A. P. (2016). The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene. Science, 351(6269), Article aad2622. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad2622

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title = "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.",

author = "Waters, {Colin N.} and Jan Zalasiewicz and Colin Summerhayes and Barnosky, {Anthony D.} and Cl{\'e}ment Poirier and Agnieszka Ga{\l}uszka and Alejandro Cearreta and Matt Edgeworth and Ellis, {Erle C.} and Michael Ellis and Catherine Jeandel and Reinhold Leinfelder and McNeill, {J. R.} and Richter, {Daniel De B.} and Will Steffen and James Syvitski and Davor Vidas and Michael Wagreich and Mark Williams and An Zhisheng and Jacques Grinevald and Eric Odada and Naomi Oreskes and Wolfe, {Alexander P.}",

year = "2016",

month = jan,

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doi = "10.1126/science.aad2622",

language = "English",

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Waters, CN, Zalasiewicz, J, Summerhayes, C, Barnosky, AD, Poirier, C, Gałuszka, A, Cearreta, A, Edgeworth, M, Ellis, EC, Ellis, M, Jeandel, C, Leinfelder, R, McNeill, JR, Richter, DDB, Steffen, W, Syvitski, J, Vidas, D, Wagreich, M, Williams, M, Zhisheng, A, Grinevald, J, Odada, E, Oreskes, N & Wolfe, AP 2016, 'The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene', Science, vol. 351, no. 6269, aad2622. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad2622

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T1 - The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene

AU - Waters, Colin N.

AU - Zalasiewicz, Jan

AU - Summerhayes, Colin

AU - Barnosky, Anthony D.

AU - Poirier, Clément

AU - Gałuszka, Agnieszka

AU - Cearreta, Alejandro

AU - Edgeworth, Matt

AU - Ellis, Erle C.

AU - Ellis, Michael

AU - Jeandel, Catherine

AU - Leinfelder, Reinhold

AU - McNeill, J. R.

AU - Richter, Daniel De B.

AU - Steffen, Will

AU - Syvitski, James

AU - Vidas, Davor

AU - Wagreich, Michael

AU - Williams, Mark

AU - Zhisheng, An

AU - Grinevald, Jacques

AU - Odada, Eric

AU - Oreskes, Naomi

AU - Wolfe, Alexander P.

PY - 2016/1/8

Y1 - 2016/1/8

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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U2 - 10.1126/science.aad2622

DO - 10.1126/science.aad2622

M3 - Review article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 351

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6269

M1 - aad2622

ER -

The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene

Abstract

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