000 02347nab a2200289 4500
003 OSt
005 20220803152306.0
007 cr aa aaaaa
008 220803b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100 _aEdgeworth, Matt
_950827
245 _aThe chronostratigraphic method is unsuitable for determining the start of the Anthropocene/
260 _bSage,
_c2019.
300 _aVol 43, issue 3, 2019 : (334-344 p.).
520 _aThis paper responds to and supports the earlier ‘Three Flaws’ paper by William Ruddiman (this journal, 2018). It builds upon his critique of the method used by the Anthropocene Working Group in determining the start date of the Anthropocene. While chronostratigraphy is acknowledged as the best means of establishing a framework for the division of deep time – on geological timescales of millions of years – it is argued that the method is unsuitable for use on archaeological and historical timescales. Close proximity in time between the chronostratigraphic observer and the stratigraphic boundary in question renders the placement of a precisely defined, globally synchronous timeline onto highly time-transgressive evidence inappropriate on these scales of analysis. Application of the method hinders rather than helps understanding of the role of human impact on Earth System change; it leads to a loss of the bigger picture and to relative neglect of the crucial evidence provided by humanly modified ground – the missing strata in most chronostratigraphic accounts of the Anthropocene start. A more ground-up approach is called for. Recognition of humans as geological agents needs to be accompanied by recognition of the distinctive traces of human agency in the ground, which are unprecedented in the stratigraphic records of earlier geological time periods.
650 _aAnthropocene,
_950650
650 _achronostratigraphy,
_950807
650 _a GSSP,
_950828
650 _astrata,
_950829
650 _atimescale
_950830
700 _aEllis, Erle C
_950694
700 _aGibbard, Philip
_950831
700 _aNeal, Cath
_950832
700 _aEllis, Michael
_950833
773 0 _012665
_916502
_dLondon: Sage Publication Ltd, 2019.
_tProgress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment/
_x03091333
856 _uhttps://doi.org/10.1177/0309133319831673
942 _2ddc
_cART
999 _c12686
_d12686