Anthropogenic soils are the golden spikes for the Anthropocene
Abstract
We propose that the Anthropocene be defined as the last c. 2000 years of the late Holocene and characterized on the basis of anthropogenic soils. This contrasts with the original definition of the Anthropocene as the last c. 250 years (since the Industrial Revolution) and more recent proposals that the Anthropocene began some 5000 to 8000 years ago in the early to mid Holocene (the early-Anthropocene hypothesis). Anthropogenic soil horizons, of which several types are recognized, provide extensive terrestrial stratigraphic markers for defining the start of the Anthropocene. The pedosphere is regarded as the best indicator of the rise to dominance of human impacts on the total environment because it reflects strongly the growing impact of early civilisations over much of the Earth’s surface. Hence, the composition of anthropogenic soils is deemed more appropriate than atmospheric composition in providing ‘golden spikes’ for the Anthropocene.
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Many environmental scholars have used the Anthropocene designation to characterize socio-environmental relationships that significantly predate both the Industrial Revolution and the Great Acceleration.
“Unsurprisingly many environmental scholars have thus used the Anthropocene designation to characterize socio-environmental relationships that significantly predate both the Industrial Revolution and the Great Acceleration (Doughty et al., 2010; Certini and Scalenghe, 2011; Smith and Zeder, 2013; Beach et al., 2015; Lewis and Maslin, 2015; Boivin et al., 2016; Wagreich and Draganits, 2018).”
From A practical solution: the Anthropocene is a geological event, not a formal epoch (2022) · cites this paper as Certini and Scalenghe, 2011
Agricultural practices including tillage, manuring, burning, composting, and use of chemical fertilizers alter the chemistry and isotopic composition of nitrogen and phosphorus in soils and plant and animal remains.
“Agricultural practices, including tillage, manuring, burning, composting, and use of chemical fertilizers, alter the chemistry and isotopic composition of nitrogen and phosphorus in soils and plant and animal remains (85, 89, 90).”
From Used planet: a global history (2013) · cites this paper as [85]
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“…socio-environmental relationships that significantly predate both the Industrial Revolution and the Great Acceleration (Doughty et al., 2010; Certini and Scalenghe, 2011; Smith and Zeder, 2013; Beach et al., 2015; Lewis and Maslin, 2015; Boivin et al., 2016; Wagreich and Draganits, 2018).”
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- Authors
- Certini, G., & Scalenghe, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Florence (IT)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Venue
- The Holocene
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-07-19
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1269-1274
- ISSN
- 0959-6836 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-0911
- OpenAlex
- W2026829506
- Cited by
- 273
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 19.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Holocene (publishedVersion)
- Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion)
- Nova Science Publishers (Nova Science Publishers, Inc.) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil and Environmental Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Keywords
- Anthropocene, anthropogenic soils, golden spike, stratigraphic markers, pedosphere, Late Holocene, anthropogenic impacts, soil horizons, chronostratigraphy
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