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The Anthropocene: A Geomorphological and Sedimentary View

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STRATI 2013

Part of the book series: Springer Geology ((SPRINGERGEOL))

Abstract

The “Anthropocene”, as used to describe the interval of recent Earth history during which humans have had an “overwhelming” effect on the Earth system, is now being formally considered as a possible new geological Epoch. Such a new geological time interval (possibly equivalent to the Pleistocene Epoch) requires both theoretical justification as well as empirical evidence preserved within the geological record. Since the geological record is driven by geomorphological processes, geomorphology has to be an integral part of this consideration given that it is Earth-surface processes that produce terrestrial and near-shore stratigraphy. This paper sets a priori considerations concerning the possible formalisation of the Anthropocene from a geomorphological perspective, including the recognition of human dominance in sedimentary transport systems, the boundary problem, and the spatial diachrony of “anthropogenic geomorphology”.

Antony G. Brown and members of the British Society for Geomorphology (BSG) Working party on The Anthropocene.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Palaeoenvironmental Laboratory University of Southampton, Highfields Campus, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Antony G. Brown

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  1. Antony G. Brown
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Ciências da Terra, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Grande Lisboa, Portugal

    Rogério Rocha

  2. Faculdade Ciências e Tecnologia Ciencias da Terra, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Grande Lisboa, Portugal

    João Pais

  3. Ciências da Terra, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Caparica, Grande Lisboa, Portugal

    José Carlos Kullberg

  4. Geological Sciences, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California, USA

    Stanley Finney

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Brown, A.G. (2014). The Anthropocene: A Geomorphological and Sedimentary View. In: Rocha, R., Pais, J., Kullberg, J., Finney, S. (eds) STRATI 2013. Springer Geology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04364-7_171

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