The technofossil record of humans

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5039712
AutoresJ Zalasiewicz (0000-0002-3220-4855, University of Leicester), Mark Williams (0000-0002-7987-6069, University of Leicester), Colin N Waters (0000-0001-6113-8730, British Geological Survey), Anthony D Barnosky (0000-0003-0265-7113, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology), Peter Haff, P K Haff (Duke University)
Año2014
Volumen1
Número1
Páginas34-43
Fecha de publicación2014-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Anthropocene Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2053-0196 • E-ISSN: 2053-020X
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2053019613514953
OpenAlexW2161092780
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas75
Referencias citadas30

As humans have colonised and modified the Earth's surface, they have developed progressively more sophisticated tools and technologies. These underpin a new kind of stratigraphy, that we term technostratigraphy, marked by the geologically accelerated evolution and diversification of technofossils - the preservable material remains of the technosphere (Haff, 2013), driven by human purpose and transmitted cultural memory, and with the dynamics of an emergent system. The technosphere, present in some form for most of the Quaternary, shows several thresholds. Its expansion and transcontinental synchronisation in the mid 20th century has produced a global technostratigraphy that combines very high time-resolution, great geometrical complexity and wide (including transplanetary) extent. Technostratigraphy can help characterise the deposits of a potential Anthropocene Epoch and its emergence marks a step change in planetary mode

Anthropocene · Astrobiology · Biology · Diversification (marketing strategy · Earth science · Epoch (astronomy · Fossil Record · Quaternary · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Computer Science · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life · Geology · Paleontology