Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965
Anthropogenic activity is now recognised as having profoundly and permanently altered the Earth system, suggesting we have entered a human-dominated geological epoch, the ‘Anthropocene’. To formally define the onset of the Anthropocene, a synchronous global signature within geological-forming materi...
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ftuniveastangl:oai:ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk:66438 2023-05-15T18:25:25+02:00 Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965 Turney, Chris S. M. Palmer, Jonathan Maslin, Mark A. Hogg, Alan Fogwill, Christopher J. Southon, John Fenwick, Pavla Helle, Gerhard Wilmshurst, Janet M. McGlone, Matt Bronk Ramsey, Christopher Thomas, Zoë Lipson, Mathew Beaven, Brent Jones, Richard T. Andrews, Oliver Hua, Quan 2018-02-19 application/pdf https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66438/ https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66438/1/Published_manuscript.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20970-5 en eng https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66438/1/Published_manuscript.pdf Turney, Chris S. M., Palmer, Jonathan, Maslin, Mark A., Hogg, Alan, Fogwill, Christopher J., Southon, John, Fenwick, Pavla, Helle, Gerhard, Wilmshurst, Janet M., McGlone, Matt, Bronk Ramsey, Christopher, Thomas, Zoë, Lipson, Mathew, Beaven, Brent, Jones, Richard T., Andrews, Oliver and Hua, Quan (2018) Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965. Scientific Reports, 8. ISSN 2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20970-5 cc_by CC-BY Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftuniveastangl https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20970-5 2023-01-30T21:47:59Z Anthropogenic activity is now recognised as having profoundly and permanently altered the Earth system, suggesting we have entered a human-dominated geological epoch, the ‘Anthropocene’. To formally define the onset of the Anthropocene, a synchronous global signature within geological-forming materials is required. Here we report a series of precisely-dated tree-ring records from Campbell Island (Southern Ocean) that capture peak atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) resulting from Northern Hemisphere-dominated thermonuclear bomb tests during the 1950s and 1960s. The only alien tree on the island, a Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), allows us to seasonally-resolve Southern Hemisphere atmospheric 14C, demonstrating the ‘bomb peak’ in this remote and pristine location occurred in the last-quarter of 1965 (October-December), coincident with the broader changes associated with the post-World War II ‘Great Acceleration’ in industrial capacity and consumption. Our findings provide a precisely-resolved potential Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) or ‘golden spike’, marking the onset of the Anthropocene Epoch. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository Bomb Peak ENVELOPE(169.250,169.250,-77.533,-77.533) Campbell Island ENVELOPE(169.500,169.500,-52.500,-52.500) Southern Ocean Scientific Reports 8 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftuniveastangl |
language |
English |
description |
Anthropogenic activity is now recognised as having profoundly and permanently altered the Earth system, suggesting we have entered a human-dominated geological epoch, the ‘Anthropocene’. To formally define the onset of the Anthropocene, a synchronous global signature within geological-forming materials is required. Here we report a series of precisely-dated tree-ring records from Campbell Island (Southern Ocean) that capture peak atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) resulting from Northern Hemisphere-dominated thermonuclear bomb tests during the 1950s and 1960s. The only alien tree on the island, a Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), allows us to seasonally-resolve Southern Hemisphere atmospheric 14C, demonstrating the ‘bomb peak’ in this remote and pristine location occurred in the last-quarter of 1965 (October-December), coincident with the broader changes associated with the post-World War II ‘Great Acceleration’ in industrial capacity and consumption. Our findings provide a precisely-resolved potential Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) or ‘golden spike’, marking the onset of the Anthropocene Epoch. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Turney, Chris S. M. Palmer, Jonathan Maslin, Mark A. Hogg, Alan Fogwill, Christopher J. Southon, John Fenwick, Pavla Helle, Gerhard Wilmshurst, Janet M. McGlone, Matt Bronk Ramsey, Christopher Thomas, Zoë Lipson, Mathew Beaven, Brent Jones, Richard T. Andrews, Oliver Hua, Quan |
spellingShingle |
Turney, Chris S. M. Palmer, Jonathan Maslin, Mark A. Hogg, Alan Fogwill, Christopher J. Southon, John Fenwick, Pavla Helle, Gerhard Wilmshurst, Janet M. McGlone, Matt Bronk Ramsey, Christopher Thomas, Zoë Lipson, Mathew Beaven, Brent Jones, Richard T. Andrews, Oliver Hua, Quan Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965 |
author_facet |
Turney, Chris S. M. Palmer, Jonathan Maslin, Mark A. Hogg, Alan Fogwill, Christopher J. Southon, John Fenwick, Pavla Helle, Gerhard Wilmshurst, Janet M. McGlone, Matt Bronk Ramsey, Christopher Thomas, Zoë Lipson, Mathew Beaven, Brent Jones, Richard T. Andrews, Oliver Hua, Quan |
author_sort |
Turney, Chris S. M. |
title |
Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965 |
title_short |
Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965 |
title_full |
Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965 |
title_fullStr |
Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965 |
title_sort |
global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the anthropocene epoch in 1965 |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66438/ https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66438/1/Published_manuscript.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20970-5 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(169.250,169.250,-77.533,-77.533) ENVELOPE(169.500,169.500,-52.500,-52.500) |
geographic |
Bomb Peak Campbell Island Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Bomb Peak Campbell Island Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66438/1/Published_manuscript.pdf Turney, Chris S. M., Palmer, Jonathan, Maslin, Mark A., Hogg, Alan, Fogwill, Christopher J., Southon, John, Fenwick, Pavla, Helle, Gerhard, Wilmshurst, Janet M., McGlone, Matt, Bronk Ramsey, Christopher, Thomas, Zoë, Lipson, Mathew, Beaven, Brent, Jones, Richard T., Andrews, Oliver and Hua, Quan (2018) Global peak in atmospheric radiocarbon provides a potential definition for the onset of the Anthropocene epoch in 1965. Scientific Reports, 8. ISSN 2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20970-5 |
op_rights |
cc_by |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20970-5 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766206855942504448 |