The Anthropocene

What is the reach of geology, today? The word evokes strata, minerals and fossils. But how about metro systems, farmyard animals, factory smoke, ballpoint pens, tree‐rings and the fluff that comes off our clothes? These kinds of objects are just part of the evidence that is now being assembled to build a picture of the Anthropocene—the idea that human activities are now sufficiently powerful and pervasive to build the geology of the present—and to influence the course of the geology of our planet's future, too.