Anthropocene on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: A Holocene perspective from multiple sedimentary records

Abstract

The Anthropocene is described as the period since ∼1950 when human activities modified the boundary conditions of the Earth system and became the dominant driver of environmental changes. However, since the term ‘Anthropocene’ was proposed, there has been a debate regarding its start date, and several workers are even opposed to its formalization. A prerequisite for clarifying the debate on the start date of the Anthropocene is a historical perspective, which can help determine the form, degree, rate, and trajectory of human influences on the environment. Here, we focus on the Paleoanthropocene as recorded on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. We propose that human activity has had a profound impact on the natural environment of the region during the Holocene owing to the combined impacts of alpine pastoralism, land-cover change caused by deforestation, heavy metal pollution of lakes, agricultural soil erosion, and lake eutrophication caused by industry and agriculture. It is apparent that the terms ‘Anthropocene’ and ‘Anthropocene Science’ have far-reaching meanings, offering great opportunities for interdisciplinary integration and encouraging us to think more deeply about the sustainable development of human society, despite the fact that the impacts of humans and their environmental footprint in geological archives may be transient.