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
Palaeontology, Geobiology and Earth Archives Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Climate Change Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 19;8(1):3293. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-20970-5.
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 (C) 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 C, 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.
现在人们认识到，人类活动已对地球系统产生了深刻而持久的改变，这表明我们已进入一个由人类主导的地质时代，即“人类世”。要正式界定人类世的开端，需要在地质形成物质中找到一个同步的全球标志。在此，我们报告了一系列来自坎贝尔岛（南大洋）的精确测年的树木年轮记录，这些记录捕捉到了20世纪50年代和60年代北半球主导的热核弹试验所导致的大气放射性碳（C）峰值。岛上唯一的外来树种——西加云杉（Picea sitchensis），使我们能够按季节解析南半球大气中的碳，证明在这个偏远且原始的地点，“核弹峰值”出现在1965年最后一个季度（10月至12月），与二战后工业产能和消费的“大加速”相关的更广泛变化同时发生。我们的研究结果提供了一个精确解析的潜在全球层型剖面和点位（GSSP）或“金钉子”，标志着人类世的开端。
