Traces of the Anthropocene in geological records

Nowadays, man’s ability to change the environment around him is an indisputable fact, whether he is acting to obtain economic benefits or to adapt the space to his needs. We only have to lift our heads and look at the landscape around us to realise this. In fact, human beings have succeeded in creating their own sediment, filled with fragments of plastic and polluting products. Our level of concern for the ecosystems that surround us is so great that for several years a serious debate has been taking place in the International Commission on Stratigraphy regarding the creation of the Anthropocene, an age that would bring an end to the current age – the Holocene – in which we are now living. But what geological proof are they using in this debate? Can sedimentary deposits really record these concerns, in a sufficiently significant way, so as to justify the creation of a new geological age? The aim of this lecture is to show some of this geological evidence, and to present it in the context of the debate.

With the collaboration

                                                        

                                                          

Cycle: SCIENCE ON MONDAY how human beings are transforming the earth: the Anthropocene Age - II

Organized by: Residents for Researchers