What fossils will modern-day humans leave?

[Still Waters]

Today, the vast majority of scientists agree that humans are causing unprecedented changes to our planet. Yet whether that warrants delineating an entirely new epoch is something geologists continue to disagree on.

Some think the impact of humans is now so great, it exceeds the natural processes of the Holocene, while others argue there's no clear marker in the geological record of the age of humans - the so-called Anthropocene.

Palaeontologists Roy Plotnick and Karen Koy fall in the former category, and they think our fossil record is a dead give-away. In a new paper, the pair argue that in the far future - say, a hundred thousand years from now - fossils of our age will point unmistakably towards humans.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-argue-the-age-of-humans-will-be-unmistakable-in-the-fossil-record-of-our-time

[zep73]

They will find many graves with skeletons with bent necks and hands up front, and hypothesize about "rodent disease", not realizing it was the age of smartphones.

[Essan]

Plastic.   That's what our legacy in the geological record will be: tiny spherules of plastic

(And a mass extinction event)

[SHaYap]

A layer of scoured death... 

~

[Jon the frog]

12 minutes ago, Essan said:

Plastic.   That's what our legacy in the geological record will be: tiny spherules of plastic

(And a mass extinction event)

And destruction of the layers before our geological record in most human occupation area...

Edited January 11, 2020 by Jon the frog

[Eldorado]

 

[RoofGardener]

Crisp packet from 1960's found on beach. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-44159179

[spud the mackem]

Used chewing gum on our pavements , waterproof ,  heat proof , almost indestructible . 

[Grim Reaper 6]

2 hours ago, Essan said:

Plastic.   That's what our legacy in the geological record will be: tiny spherules of plastic

(And a mass extinction event)

Yep that's very true, and it's also very sad that what may appear to be our greatest achievement is nothing but trash.

peace

2 hours ago, Essan said:

Plastic.   That's what our legacy in the geological record will be: tiny spherules of plastic

(And a mass extinction event)

 

Edited January 11, 2020 by Manwon Lender

[Grim Reaper 6]

4 hours ago, Still Waters said:

Today, the vast majority of scientists agree that humans are causing unprecedented changes to our planet. Yet whether that warrants delineating an entirely new epoch is something geologists continue to disagree on.

Some think the impact of humans is now so great, it exceeds the natural processes of the Holocene, while others argue there's no clear marker in the geological record of the age of humans - the so-called Anthropocene.

Palaeontologists Roy Plotnick and Karen Koy fall in the former category, and they think our fossil record is a dead give-away. In a new paper, the pair argue that in the far future - say, a hundred thousand years from now - fossils of our age will point unmistakably towards humans.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-argue-the-age-of-humans-will-be-unmistakable-in-the-fossil-record-of-our-time

Giant missiles in silos.

peace