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Journal articles
A formal Anthropocene is compatible with but distinct from its diachronous anthropogenic counterparts: a response to W.F. Ruddiman’s ‘three flaws in defining a formal Anthropocene’
Jan Zalasiewicz
1
Colin Waters
2
Martin Head
3
Clément Poirier
4
Colin Summerhayes
5
Reinhold Leinfelder
6
Jacques Grinevald
7
Will Steffen
8
Jaia Syvitski
9
Peter Haff
10
John Mcneill
11
Michael Wagreich
12
Ian Fairchild
13
Daniel Richter
14
Davor Vidas
15
Mark Williams
16
Anthony Barnosky
17
Alejandro Cearreta
18
Jan Zalasiewicz 1
Author
Colin Waters 2
Author
Martin Head 3
Author
Clément Poirier 4
Author IdHAL : clement-poirier ORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8311-8463
Colin Summerhayes 5
Author
Reinhold Leinfelder 6
Author
Jacques Grinevald 7
Author
Will Steffen 8
Author
Anthony Barnosky 17
Author
Alejandro Cearreta 18
Author
1
Department of Geology [Leicester] (University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH - United Kingdom)
- University of Leicester (University Rd, Leicester LE1 7RH - United Kingdom)
2
BGS - British Geological Survey (United Kingdom)
3
Brock University [Canada] (1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada - Canada)
4
M2C - Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière (24 rue des Tilleuls 14000 Caen - France)
- UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie (Esplanade de la Paix - CS 14032 - 14032 CAEN Cedex 5 - France)
- NU - Normandie Université (Esplanade de la Paix - CS 14032 - 14032 Caen Cedex 5 - France)
- INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU-CNRS 3 rue Michel-Ange, 75794 Paris Cedex 16 - France)
- UNIROUEN - Université de Rouen Normandie (1, rue Thomas Becket 76821 Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex - France)
- NU - Normandie Université (Esplanade de la Paix - CS 14032 - 14032 Caen Cedex 5 - France)
- CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMR6143 (France)
5
CAM - University of Cambridge [UK] (The Old Schools, Trinity Lane, Cambridge CB2 1TN - United Kingdom)
6
Freie Universität Berlin (Kaiserswerther Str. 16-18, 14195 Berlin - Germany)
7
IHEID - Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement P.O.Box 136, 1211 Geneva 21 - Switzerland)
- University of Geneva [Switzerland] (Bd du Pont-d'Arve 40, CH-1211 Geneva 4 - Switzerland)
8
ANU - Australian National University (The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 Australia - Australia)
9
University of Colorado [Boulder] (Boulder, Colorado 80309 - United States)
10
Duke University [Durham] (Durham, NC 27708 - United States)
11
GU - Georgetown University [Washington] ( 37th and O Streets, N.W., Washington D.C. 20057 - United States)
12
University of Vienna [Vienna] (Universitätsring 1, 1010 Wien - Austria)
13
University of Birmingham [Birmingham] (Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 2TT - United Kingdom)
14
Department of Human Evolution [Leipzig] (Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany - Germany)
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Deutscher Pl. 6, 04103 Leipzig - Germany)
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (Jägerstrasse, 10-11, D-10117 Berlin - Germany)
15
Fridtjof Nansen Institute of oceanology (Bulgaria)
16
Department of Geography [Leicester] (Department of Geography Leicester University LE1 7RH Leicester - United Kingdom)
- University of Leicester (University Rd, Leicester LE1 7RH - United Kingdom)
17
Stanford University [Stanford] (450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-2004 - United States)
18
UPV/EHU - Universidad del Pais Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea [Espagne] (Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia
Campus d'Álava : Vice-Rectorado, San Antonio 41, 01005 Vitoria ;
campus de Biscaye et services centraux : Apdo 1397, 48080 Bilbao ;
campus de Guipúzcoa : Vice-Rectorado, Fuenterrabia 13-1° , 20006 San Sebastián - Spain)
Abstract : We analyse the ‘three flaws’ to potentially defining a formal Anthropocene geological time unit as advanced by Ruddiman (2018). (1) We recognize a long record of pre-industrial human impacts, but note that these increased in relative magnitude slowly and were strongly time-transgressive by comparison with the extraordinarily rapid, novel and near-globally synchronous changes of post-industrial time. (2) The rules of stratigraphic nomenclature do not ‘reject’ pre-industrial anthropogenic signals – these have long been a key characteristic and distinguishing feature of the Holocene. (3) In contrast to the contention that classical chronostratigraphy is now widely ignored by scientists, it remains vital and widely used in unambiguously defining geological time units and is an indispensable part of the Earth sciences. A mounting body of evidence indicates that the Anthropocene, considered as a precisely defined geological time unit that begins in the mid-20th century, is sharply distinct from the Holocene.
Document type :
Journal articles
Complete list of metadatas
https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02194153
Contributor : Pierre Weill <>
Submitted on : Thursday, July 25, 2019 - 11:38:47 AM
Last modification on : Monday, April 27, 2020 - 4:26:30 PM
Contributor : Pierre Weill <>
Submitted on : Thursday, July 25, 2019 - 11:38:47 AM
Last modification on : Monday, April 27, 2020 - 4:26:30 PM
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- HAL Id : hal-02194153, version 1
- DOI : 10.1177/0309133319832607
Citation
Jan Zalasiewicz, Colin Waters, Martin Head, Clément Poirier, Colin Summerhayes, et al.. A formal Anthropocene is compatible with but distinct from its diachronous anthropogenic counterparts: a response to W.F. Ruddiman’s ‘three flaws in defining a formal Anthropocene’. Progress in Physical Geography, SAGE Publications, 2019, 43 (3), pp.319-333. ⟨10.1177/0309133319832607⟩. ⟨hal-02194153⟩
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