Anthropocene continues to spark scientific debate

GSA Annual Meeting technical session: 'Geomorphology of the Anthropocene'

2012-11-01

(Press-News.org) Boulder, CO, USA – How have humans influenced Earth? Can geoscientists measure when human impacts began overtaking those of Earth's other inhabitants and that of the natural Earth system? Responding to increasing scientific recognition that humans have become the foremost agent of change at Earth's surface, organizers of this GSA technical session have brought together speakers and poster presentations from a variety of sources in order to answer these questions and define the "Geomorphology of the Anthropocene."

"Anthropocene" is a fairly new term (first used ca. 2002 by Paul Crutzen) now being applied to the current global environment and its domination by human activity (see J. Zalasiewicz et al.'s 2008 GSA Today article "Are we now living in the Anthropocene" [v. 18, no. 2, p. 4]). This "era" or "epoch" spans a yet-undetermined but so far brief (in geologic terms) time scale potentially marking the end of the Holocene epoch.

Session organizers Anne Jefferson of Kent State University, Karl Wegmann of North Carolina State University, and Anne Chin of the University of Colorado Denver have gathered presentations addressing human interactions with Earth's systems. Research studies span a range of temporal and spatial scales and investigate a variety of influences, including the effects of indigenous culture as well as dams and cities.

Chin says that part of the research is spurred by "the difficulty of finding any place (no matter how 'pristine') where the landscape hasn't been affected by human activities." She cites the U.S. National Research Council's "Grand Challenge" in Landscapes on the Edge: New Horizons for Research on Earth's Surface (2010) to determine how Earth's surface may evolve in the Anthropocene.

Chin also points to the intensification of debate over "Anthropocene" and the time frame it encompasses as scientists, policymakers, the media, and the public become increasingly aware of the term. A goal of this session is to address the debate and add a greater base of scientific understanding to round out the popularity of the idea.

Three Geological Society of American (GSA) specialty divisions cosponsor this session: the GSA Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division, the GSA Geology and Society Division, and the GSA Archaeological Geology Division, thus bringing to bear a multidisciplinary perspective to the problem. Talks include "An early Anthropocene analog: Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface"; "Removing streams from the landscape: Counting the buried streams beneath urban landscapes"; and Anthropogenic influences on rates of coastal change."

Papers from this session will be compiled into a special issue of Anthropocene, a new journal launching in 2013 by Elsevier, devoted to addressing one of the grand challenges of our time.

### Session 8: T24. Geomorphology of the Anthropocene: The Surficial Legacy of Past and Present Human Activities Talks: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/webprogram/Session30644.html When: Sunday, 4 Nov., 8 a.m. to noon Where: Charlotte Convention Center, Room 207A Poster Session: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/webprogram/Session31925.html When: Sunday, 4 Nov., 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Where: Charlotte Convention Center Hall B

Find out what else is new and newsworthy by browsing the complete technical program schedule at https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/.

To identify presentations in specific areas of interest, search topical sessions by discipline categories or sponsors using the drop-down menus at www.geosociety.org/meetings/2012/sessions/topical.asp, or use your browser's "find" feature to search for keywords or convener names.

Representatives of the media and public information officers from universities, government agencies, and research institutions, may participate in technical sessions, field trips, and other special events. Eligible media personnel will receive complimentary registration and are invited to use GSA's newsroom facilities while at the meeting. Journalists and PIOs must pay for any short courses or field trips in which they wish to participate.

For information on media eligibility, go to www.geosociety.org/meetings/2012/media.htm. Media personnel may register onsite in the GSA Newsroom (room 204) at the Charlotte Convention Center. Wireless Internet access and a quiet space for interviews will be provided in the newsroom, along with beverages and light snacks throughout the day.

Newsroom Hours of Operation Saturday, 3 Nov., 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, 4 Nov., through Tuesday, 6 Nov., 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, 7 Nov., 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Newsroom telephone number (incoming calls): +1-704-339-6207 (starting Saturday afternoon).

Contact Christa Stratton, GSA Director of Communications & Marketing, for additional information and assistance.

www.geosociety.org/meetings/2012/

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Scientists launch international study of open-fire cooking and air quality

2012-11-01

Contact: David Hosansky hosansky@ucar.edu 303-497-8611 National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Zhenya Gallon zhenya@ucar.edu 303-497-8607 National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Christine Wiedinmyer christin@ucar.edu 303-497-1414 National Center for Atmospheric Research Mary Hayden mhayden@ucar.edu 303-497-8116 National Center for Atmospheric Research Scientists launch international study of open-fire cooking and air quality BOULDER -- Expanding ...

Genetic test results for Lynch syndrome improved with new computer program

2012-11-01

SALT LAKE CITY—Many patients who have genetic testing for Lynch syndrome, a hereditary predisposition to colon cancer, receive the inconclusive result "variants of uncertain clinical significance." This can be a problem, as people with Lynch syndrome have a much higher probability to develop colon cancer, and often develop colon cancer at an earlier age than is common among the general population; consequently, they need to begin screening at a much younger age. Now, between two-thirds and three-fourths of these genetic variants can be classified into categories that ...

Brain may 'see' more than the eyes, study indicates

2012-11-01

Vision may be less important to "seeing" than is the brain's ability to process points of light into complex images, according to a new study of the fruit fly visual system currently published in the online journal Nature Communications. University of Virginia researchers have found that the very simple eyes of fruit fly larvae, with only 24 total photoreceptors (the human eye contains more than 125 million), provide just enough light or visual input to allow the animal's relatively large brain to assemble that input into images. "It blows open how we think about vision," ...

IU researchers report first effective treatment of tumors arising from common genetic disease NF1

2012-11-01

Physician-researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have reported the first effective therapy for a class of previously untreatable and potentially life-threatening tumors often found in children. Announcing their findings in the online first edition of Lancet Oncology, the researchers said the drug imatinib mesylate, marketed as Gleevec as a treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia, provided relief to a significant number of patients with plexiform neurofibromas, tumors caused by neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1. "Although this was a small study, the results ...

Super-rare, super-luminous supernovae are likely explosion of universe's earliest stars

2012-11-01

The most-distant, super-luminous supernovae found to date have been observed by an international team, including Raymond Carlberg of the University of Toronto's Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics. The stellar explosions would have occurred at a time when the universe was much younger and probably soon after the Big Bang. "The objects are both unusually bright and unusually slow to fade. These are properties that are consistent with what is known as pair-instability supernova, a rare mechanism for explosion which is expected to happen for high-mass stars with almost ...

Stem cells could heal equine tendon injuries

2012-11-01

Tendon injuries affect athletic horses at all levels. Researchers from the University of Connecticut are studying the use of stem cells in treating equine tendon injuries. Their findings were published Oct. 16 in the Journal of Animal Science Papers in Press. Tendon injuries in horses tend to worsen over time as damage to the tendon creates lesions. Currently, horse owners treat tendon injuries by resting the horse and then carefully exercising the horse to control the growth of scar tissue in the tendon. Unfortunately, this treatment does not always work. "These injuries ...

LSUHSC research identifies new therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease

2012-11-01

New Orleans, LA – Research led by Chu Chen, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has identified an enzyme called Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) as a new therapeutic target to treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease. The study was published online November 1, 2012 in the Online Now section of the journal Cell Reports. The research team found that inactivation of MAGL, best known for its role in degrading a cannabinoid produced in the brain, reduced the production and accumulation of beta amyloid plaques, a pathological hallmark ...

Rethinking reading

2012-11-01

Many educators have long believed that when words differ on only one sound, early readers can learn the rules of phonics by focusing on what is different between the words. This is thought to be a critical gateway to reading words and sentences. But scientists at the University of Iowa are turning that thinking on its head. A recent study published in "Developmental Psychology" shows certain kinds of variation in words may help early readers learn better. When children see the same phonics regularities, embedded in words with more variation, they may learn these crucial ...

Laser-light testing of breast tumor fiber patterns helps show whose cancer is spreading

2012-11-01

Using advanced microscopes equipped with tissue-penetrating laser light, cancer imaging experts at Johns Hopkins have developed a promising, new way to accurately analyze the distinctive patterns of ultra-thin collagen fibers in breast tumor tissue samples and to help tell if the cancer has spread. The Johns Hopkins researchers say their crisscrossing optical images, made by shining a laser back and forth across a biopsied tissue sample a few millionths of a meter thick, can potentially be used with other tests to more accurately determine the need for lymph node biopsy ...

George Mason University researchers target breast cancer in 3 trials

2012-11-01

Fairfax, Va. -- A malarial drug is showing promise in stopping breast cancer before it starts, Mason researchers are discovering during a clinical trial. "The bold long-term goal is a short-term oral treatment that prevents breast cancer by killing the precursor cells that initiate breast cancer," says Lance Liotta, co-director of Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM). "And it's looking hopeful." The PINC trial (Preventing Invasive Neoplasia with Chloroquine) targets ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, the most common type of pre-invasive ...

Anthropocene continues to spark scientific debate

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: