Land transformation by humans: A review

Hooke, Roger LeB.; Duque, José Francisco Martín; Gilsanz, Javier de Pedraza

doi:10.1130/gsat151a.1

Cited by 485 publications

(252 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…However, the anthropogenic acceleration of processes of erosion and sedimentation has led to the physical record of the Anthropocene being substantial (e.g. Price et al, 2011;Hooke et al, 2012;Ford et al, 2014), and large parts of this record are also distinctive, given the geological novelty of many human-driven processes. While the geometrical and temporal complexity of Anthropocene deposits clearly present some unusual challenges, an Anthropocene chronostratigraphical unit may be recognized and this is significant to the choice of a boundary for this unit.…”

Section: The International Chronostratigraphic Chart and The Anthropomentioning

confidence: 99%

When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Williams

et al. 2015

Quaternary International

602

326

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We evaluate the boundary of the Anthropocene geological time interval as an epoch, since it is useful to have a consistent temporal definition for this increasingly used unit, whether the presently informal term is eventually formalized or not. Of the three main levels suggested - an 'early Anthropocene' level some thousands of years ago; the beginning of the Industrial Revolution at similar to 1800 CE (Common Era); and the 'Great Acceleration' of the mid-twentieth century - current evidence suggests that the last of these has the most pronounced and globally synchronous signal. A boundary at this time need not have a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP or 'golden spike') but can be defined by a Global Standard Stratigraphic Age (GSSA), i.e. a point in time of the human calendar. We propose an appropriate boundary level here to be the time of the world's first nuclear bomb explosion, on July 16th 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico; additional bombs were detonated at the average rate of one every 9.6 days until 1988 with attendant worldwide fallout easily identifiable in the chemostratigraphic record. Hence, Anthropocene deposits would be those that may include the globally distributed primary artificial radionuclide signal, while also being recognized using a wide range of other stratigraphic criteria. This suggestion for the Holocene-Anthropocene boundary may ultimately be superseded, as the Anthropocene is only in its early phases, but it should remain practical and effective for use by at least the current generation of scientists. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

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Section: The International Chronostratigraphic Chart and The Anthropomentioning

confidence: 99%

When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Williams

et al. 2015

Quaternary International

602

326

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“…Anthropogenic impacts on coastal pH driven by activities within the watershed may have been in operation over centuries to millennia (Valiela 2006;Hooke and Martín-Duque 2012), depending on the extent and intensity of human occupation. Hence, the current narrative of OA as an anthropogenic process driven by increased CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere and subsequent dissolution in the ocean is only applicable partially to the coastal ocean where anthropogenic impacts on pH have multiple sources and vary in intensity and direction.…”

Section: Towards a Canonical Paradigm On Anthropogenic Impacts On Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in land use over the past centuries have affected the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients in the coastal zone strongly (Nixon 1995;Doney 2010;Hooke and Martín-Duque 2012). In particular, human activity has altered the watershed export of organic and inorganic carbon, carbonate alkalinity, acids and nutrients to the ocean, affecting pH (Aufdenkampe et al 2011).…”

Section: Impacts Of Anthropogenic Watershed Perturbations On Seawater Phmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Ocean Acidification an Open-Ocean Syndrome? Understanding Anthropogenic Impacts on Seawater pH

Duarte

Hendriks

Moore

et al. 2013

Estuaries and Coasts

616

452

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Ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions is a dominant driver of long-term changes in pH in the open ocean, raising concern for the future of calcifying organisms, many of which are present in coastal habitats. However, changes in pH in coastal ecosystems result from a multitude of drivers, including impacts from watershed processes, nutrient inputs, and changes in ecosystem structure and metabolism. Interaction between ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions and the dynamic regional to local drivers of coastal ecosystems have resulted in complex regulation of pH in coastal waters. Changes in the watershed can, for example, lead to changes in alkalinity and CO 2 fluxes that, together with metabolic processes and oceanic dynamics, yield high-magnitude decadal changes of up to 0.5 units in coastal pH. Metabolism results in strong diel to seasonal fluctuations in pH, with characteristic ranges of 0.3 pH units, with metabolically intense habitats exceeding this range on a daily basis. The intense variability and multiple, complex controls on pH implies that the concept of ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions cannot be transposed to coastal ecosystems directly. Furthermore, in coastal ecosystems, the detection of trends towards acidification is not trivial and the attribution of these changes to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions is even more problematic. Coastal ecosystems may show acidification or basification, depending on the balance between the invasion of coastal waters by anthropogenic CO 2 , watershed export of alkalinity, organic matter and CO 2 , and changes in the balance between primary production, respiration and calcification rates in response to changes in nutrient inputs and losses of ecosystem components. Hence, we contend that ocean acidification from anthropogenic CO 2 is largely an open-ocean syndrome and that a concept of anthropogenic impacts on marine pH, which is applicable across the entire ocean, from coastal to open-ocean environments, provides a superior framework to consider the multiple components of the anthropogenic perturbation of marine pH trajectories. The concept of anthropogenic impacts on seawater pH acknowledges that a regional focus is necessary to predict future trajectories in the pH of coastal waters and points at opportunities to manage these trajectories locally to conserve coastal organisms vulnerable to ocean acidification.

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“…Its nature and scale on land has been documented (e.g. Hooke, 2000, Hooke et al, 2013Wilkinson, 2005;Price et al, 2011;Ford et al, 2014) and it extends into the marine realm via deep-sea trawling (e.g. Puig et al 2012) and other submarine constructions.…”

Section: Surface Anthroturbationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human bioturbation, and the subterranean landscape of the Anthropocene

2014

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Bioturbation by humans ('anthroturbation'), comprising phenomena ranging from surface landscaping to boreholes that penetrate deep into the crust, is a phenomenon without precedent in Earth history, being orders of magnitude greater in scale than any preceding non-human type of bioturbation. These human phenomena range from simple individual structures to complex networks that range to several kilometres depth (compared with animal burrows that range from centimetres to a few metres in depth), while the extraction of material from underground can lead to topographic subsidence or collapse, with concomitant modification of the landscape.Geological transformations include selective removal of solid matter (e.g. solid hydrocarbons, metal ores), fluids (natural gas, liquid hydrocarbons, water), local replacement by other substances (solid waste, drilling mud), associated geochemical and mineralogical changes to redox conditions with perturbation of the water table and pH conditions and local shock-metamorphic envelopes with melt cores (in the case of underground nuclear tests). These transformations started in early/mid Holocene times, with the beginning of mining for flint and metals, but show notable inflections associated with the Industrial Revolution (ca 1800 CE) and with the 'Great Acceleration' at ~1950 CE, the latter date being associated with the large-scale extension of this phenomenon from sub-land surface to sub-sea floor settings.Geometrically, these phenomena cross-cut earlier stratigraphy. Geologically, they can be regarded as a subsurface expression of the surface chronostratigraphic record of the Anthropocene. These subsurface phenomena have very considerable potential for long-term preservation.

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Land transformation by humans: A review

Cited by 485 publications

References 50 publications

When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal

When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal

Is Ocean Acidification an Open-Ocean Syndrome? Understanding Anthropogenic Impacts on Seawater pH

Human bioturbation, and the subterranean landscape of the Anthropocene

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