The Human Dimensions of Geomorphological Work in Britain

Abstract

❙ SummaryThe transfer of materials from the natural environment to the urban and industrially built environment produces two broad impacts on the landscape: a removal of materials from the earth's surface (a change in geomorphology) and the accumulation of a stock of concrete and other materials elsewhere in cities and industrial zones (a change in urban morphology). Thus, industrial activity transforms natural landscapes and, in doing so, has to be considered to be a geological and geomorphological agent. On the global scale, the deliberate shift of around 57,000 Mt (megatons)/yr of materials through mineral extraction processes exceeds the annual transport of sediment to the oceans by rivers (some 22,000 Mt/yr) by almost a factor of three. On the island of Britain, the total deliberate shift of earth-surface materials is between 688 and 972 Mt/yr, depending on whether or not the replacement of overburden in opencast coal mining is taken into account. The export of sediment to the oceans by rivers is only 10 Mt/yr whereas the export of materials in solution is about 40 Mt/yr, making the deliberate materials shift nearly 14 times larger than the shift caused by natural processes. Processes examined by industrial ecology, such as direct excavation, urban development, and waste dumping are those most driving changes in the shape of the British landscape today. These transformations pose added costs. Industrial ecology will produce an understanding of the hidden costs associated with these transformations. Such an understanding will help in planning and encouraging the reuse of materials everywhere and in identifying the key areas for intervention to reduce off-site geomorphological impacts and costs.

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

“…Since ancient cities show up well in archeological excavations, this spate of urbanization will be evident stratigraphically in the distant future. It is estimated that the global deliberate annual transport of materials by human activity is 57 000 million tonnes and exceeds that of transport by rivers to the oceans by almost a factor of three (Douglas and Lawson, 2001). Anthropocene biotic changes on the scale of those that differentiate the previous Cenozoic epochs, and which will leave a similarly lasting palaeontological signature, have also become evident worldwide, and most of these date from the mid-twentieth century .…”

Humans as major geological and geomorphological agents in the Anthropocene: the significance of artificial ground in Great Britain

“…Douglas & Lawson [1] estimate that 972 Mt of Earth material are deliberately moved by humans in Great Britain each year. This is comparable with the capacity of annelid earthworms, for example, to process soil after ingestion.…”

“…Currently, the amount of material moved for road and infrastructure construction in Great Britain is probably about 155 Mt a year based on year 2000 figures [1]. Historical made ground is most likely to be unengineered tipped fill.…”

“…It is estimated that the worldwide deliberate annual shift of material by human activity is 57 000 Mt (million tonnes) and exceeds that of transport by rivers to the oceans (22 000 Mt) almost by a factor of three [1]. Humans sculpt and transform the landscape through the physical modification of the shape and properties of the ground surface and subsurface.…”

“…Trade of goods may have also taken place at this time, reflecting early exploitation of subsurface resources of quality flint for tool making. Deliberate, landscape transformation through mineral exploitation, processing poorly constrained data population, ONS census data urbanization [1] aggregate production, BGS figures radionuclide markers from atomic testing [5] anthropogenic markers of possible stratigraphic significance 10 20 30 40 50 60 population (millions) Figure 1. Possible stratigraphical markers in the Anthropocene based on use of UK-produced natural resources over time compared with population growth, urbanization and some major events and developments.…”