| Summary: | Anthropocene – a new geological epoch?A b s t r a c t. The Anthropocene is a new epoch proposed by Crutzen and Stoermer (2000), with a base at 1950 AD or 1800 AD. The present author doubts its value while studying Quaternary stratigraphic columns, as its base signal (Holocene/Anthropocene) might be unrecognizable in field sections. The usage of the Anthropocene epoch would probably be restricted to areas of massive direct negative human impact on Nature, predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere. In much less affected Southern Hemisphere deserts (Australia), mountain chains (the Andes), the near-pristine glaciated Antarctic continent and Subantarctic islands, separation of the Anthropocene time-unit (as a formal epoch) from the Holocene epoch would be artificial, even useless. On the other hand, the informal term might be useful for economic geographers, planners, sociologists, and Natureprotectionists.
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