A group such as Ehime University in Oita Prefecture is trying to define the present, where human activities are flourishing and affecting the global environment, as a new period division called "Anthropocene" geologically. We conducted a survey in Beppu Bay.
The history of the earth is divided into eras based on the characteristics left in the geology, and the era when warm and dinosaurs prospered after 145 million years ago is said to be the "Cretaceous", and about 10,000. From the end of the cold climate a year ago to the present, it has been considered the "Holocene", but humankind includes hard-to-decompose plastics, fine particles produced when burning fossil fuels, and chemical substances that cause environmental pollution. International academic groups are beginning to consider whether it is possible to divide the present age into a new era called the "Anthropocene", assuming that traces of the activities of the above are beginning to remain in the geology.
In Beppu Bay, Oita Prefecture, there is a special sea area where sediments on the seabed are piled up without being disturbed every year. I excavated about 1 meter of the seabed in this area.
The stratum inside the pipe is estimated to be equivalent to about 100 years, and it is supposed to analyze substances that indicate human activity, such as plastics and substances released in nuclear tests.
Similar geological surveys have been conducted in 10 geological formations such as the United States and Australia, and international academic societies want to compare data and select geological formations that represent the "Anthropocene". ..
Associate Professor Ka of Ehime University said, "Defining the Anthropocene highlights the activities of humankind that are engraved in the geology."