Anthropocene

• The Anthropocene is a proposed epoch that began when human activities changed the earths surface environment on a scale comparable with the major events of the geological past. There is a current lack of consensus for the proposed epoch. 
• A golden spike is a global stratotype section and point. They define lower boundaries of stratigraphic units. 
• A golden spike can be identified by a sudden loss or appearance of certain fossils 
• In 1610 Americas were colonised by Europeans. Diseases brought by Europeans wiped out 50-million people in the indigenous population. This reduced agriculture - resulting in reforestation and a reduction on CO2, these changes were recorded in ice cores. 
• In 1750 the invention of the combustion engine resulted in the industrial revolution. Energy produced by burning coal released CO2 and methane - recorded in ice cores. 
• In 1964 the nuclear bomb was proposed. In the early stages of the cold war 1500 nuclear weapons were detonated. Nuclear bombs produce radiogenic nuclides and are recorded in sediments as radioactive carbon. There was a spike of radioactive carbon-14 in 1964. 
• Man made materials that are incorporated into the geological record and mans modification of the earths surface is very varied. 
• Ice cores do not record specific dates. 
• The industrial revolution does not include the rest of the world. 
• One major feature of the Holocene is mans interaction with the global environment. 
• Recent suggested dates for the boundary ignore thousands of years of human interaction with the environment.