The selection of a primary marker for the Anthropocene

• 来源期刊: 科学通报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2019,（22）
• 页码范围: 1643-1645
• 页数: 3页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

Since Homo sapiens appeared,the planet has experienced continuing environmental changes [1,2].In 2000,Crutzen and Stoermer [3] systematically analysed the global changes caused by human activity over the previous 300 years and suggested that the Holocene epoch ended in the 1750s and a new geological age,the Anthropocene,began.Afterwards,the Anthropocene drew a lot of attention from both scientific community and the general public.The recognition and placement of the Anthropocene/Holocene boundary has been a subject of heated debates over the past two decades.At the 35th International Geological Congress (2016;IGC),the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) recommended the Anthropocene to be formalised with an epoch rank,with the 1950s as its lower boundary [4].Recently,the AWG voted this recommendation and they plan to submit this proposal to the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) by 2021.Although a lot of imprints found in stratigraphic sections support this view,some studies have also suggested the early Holocene,the 16th century,or the late 18th century as the starting date of Anthropocene.