The Geography of the Anthropocene in N ew Z ealand
Differential River Catchment Response to Human Impact
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7784559 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ian C Fuller (0000-0002-5123-1648, Massey University, corresponding author), Mark G Macklin (0000-0003-4167-2033, Aberystwyth University), J M Richardson (0000-0002-0736-9164, Massey University) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 255-269 |
| Publication date | 2015-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Geographical Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1745-5863 • E-ISSN: 1745-5871 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1745-5871.12121 |
| OpenAlex | W1578086529 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 45 |
N ew Z ealand provides a useful environment to test the notion that the Anthropocene is a new geological epoch. There are two well‐dated anthropogenic impact ‘events’: P olynesian settlement c. AD 1280, and E uropean colonisation c. AD 1800. Little attention, however, has been given to regional catchment response to these, although it has been assumed that both P olynesian and E uropean farming and land use management practices significantly increased erosion rates across most of N ew Z ealand. This paper addresses the nature and timing of human impacts on river systems using meta‐analysis of a recently compiled nationwide database of radiocarbon‐dated fluvial deposits. This shows highly variable human impacts on erosion and sedimentation in river systems, which are often difficult to separate from naturally driven river activity. Catchment‐scale data with high resolution dating control record clearer evidence of human disturbance. In N orthland, anthropogenic alluviation is recorded from c. AD 1300 linked to early Polynesian settlement, enhanced further in the late 19th and 20th centuries by E uropean land clearance, when sedimentation rates exceeded 25 mm year −1 . This study demonstrates significant geographical variability in the timing of human impact on river dynamics in N ew Z ealand, despite two synchronous phases of human settlement, and highlights the difficulty of formally designating a simple and single ‘Anthropocene Epoch/Age
Anthropocene · Archaeology · Cartography · Drainage basin · Erosion · Fluvial · Geography · Physical geography · Radiocarbon dating · Sediment · Sedimentation · Structural basin · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Geology · Paleontology
Man and nature; or, Physical geography as modified by human action
Dating the late prehistoric dispersal of Polynesians to New Zealand using the commensal Pacific rat
Polynesian Deforestation of New Zealand
Dating initial Maori environmental impact in New Zealand
Major disturbance to aquatic ecosystems in the South Island, New Zealand, following human settlement in the Late Holocene
Shcal04 Southern Hemisphere Calibration, 0–11.0 Cal Kyr BP
Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates
Valley Alluviation in Southwestern Wisconsin∗
Historical Floodplain Sedimentation in the Galena River Basin, Wisconsin and Illinois
The Anthropocene
Anthropogenic alluvium
Geomorphology of the Anthropocene
The Palaeoanthropocene - The beginnings of anthropogenic environmental change
Legacy sediment
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,45 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2024 (10) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |