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term Holocene means "completely recent" This refers to the present
geological era. In fact it is hardly even worth defining in geological
terms as an epoch, because it is so brief.. The boundary between the Pleistocene
and the recent is set at around 8,000 years BCE (10,000 years ago), which
represented a marked climatic warming phase and the beginning of the present
interstadial (warm period between glaciations). The change is well established
in a number of sediments, especially in Scandinavia, and corresponds to
the boundary between the European Pollen Zones III/IV, the Younger Dryas/Preborial,
and also the Late Glacial/Postglacial.
All other ages, epochs, and eras are represented by natural evolutionary and geological phenomena. The Holocene in contrast is distinguished by being the Age in which human activities have had a marked, and for the most part extremely detrimental, effect on the rest of the biosphere. Yet at the same time this age has witnessed the rise of civilization and the exponential development of the Noosphere. The ten thousand years of its extent are too short to see much in the way of the evolution of species and ecosystems, but they have seen the marked extinction of countless organisms. Natural processes of erosion and sedimentation have been replaced by human activities and geographical impacts; the rise of towns, fields, roads, etc. And there has been an exponential growth in human population and knowledge. If the former continues unabated there will be a terrible ecological collapse (which is already underway and will only accelerate). If the latter continues unabated the result will be the phenomenon known as the Singularity. Both are predicted some time in the 21st century. The beginning of the Singularity could be taken as the starting point for a totally new phase of Gaian evolution, the Technozoic (age of artificial life) or Nooarchic (reign of mind). The Holocene is too brief to be divided into stratigraphic subdivisions. So I have, with some trepidation, divided it into a number of eras of general human history and development. There is always a danger here of adopting a chauvinistically eurocentric perspective, e.g. the standard sequence of classical-medieval-modern. But conversely it has been Western Civilization that for the last 2,500 years has had an impact out of all proportion upon the rest of the world. Within the last half millennium the European discovery of that astonishing phenomenon known as scientific method has enabled the West to first conquering through technological prowess, then assimilate through cultural imperialism, all other cultures. The information of this page came from http://palaeos.com/ For more on the Cenozoic periods go to http://palaeos.com/Cenozoic/Cenozoic.htm text content
by M. Alan Kazlev 1998-2002 Page uploaded on WebDyer Site on 10 June 2004 , last modified 10 June 2004 Unless otherwise attributed, text on this page is
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