Beppu Bay, Japan, as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for an Anthropocene series

Date
2022-12-19
Authors
Kuwae, Michinobu
Finney, Bruce P
Shi, Zhiyuan
Sakaguchi, Aya
Tsugeki, Narumi
Omori, Takayuki
Agusa, Tetsuro
Suzuki, Yoshiaki
Yokoyama, Yusuke
Hinata, Hirofumi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Abstract

For assessment of the potential of the Beppu Bay sediments as a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate for the Anthropocene, we have integrated datasets of 99 proxies. The datasets for the sequences date back 100 years for most proxy records and 1300 years for several records. The cumulative number of occurrences of the anthropogenic fingerprint reveal unprecedented increases above the base of the 1953 flood layer at 64.6 cm (1953 CE), which coincides with an initial increase in global fallout of 239Pu+240Pu. The onset of the proliferation of anthropogenic fingerprints was followed by diverse human-associated events, including a rapid increase in percent modern 14C in anchovy scales, changes in nitrogen and carbon cycling as recorded by anchovy δ15N and δ13C, elevated pollution of heavy metals, increased depositions of novel materials (spheroidal carbonaceous particles, microplastics, polychlorinated biphenyls), the occurrence of hypoxia (Re/Mo ratio) and eutrophication (biogenic opal, TOC, TN, diatoms, chlorophyll a), unprecedented microplankton community changes (compositions of carotenoids, diatoms, dinoflagellates), abnormally high spring air temperatures as inferred from diatom fossils, and lithological changes. These lines of evidence indicate that the base of the 1953 layer is the best GSSP level candidate in the stratigraphy at this site.

Description
© The Author(s) 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Keywords
Anthropocene, Beppu Bay, global warming, GSSP, nitrogen cycle, stratigraphy, varve
Citation
Kuwae, M., B.P. Finney, Z. Shi, A. Sakaguchi, N. Tsugeki, T. Omori, T. Agusa, Y. Suzuki, Y. Yokoyama, H. Hinata, Y. Hatada, J. Inoue, K. Matsuoka, M. Shimada, H. Takahara, S. Takahashi, D. Ueno, A. Amano, J. Tsutsumi, M. Yamamoto, K. Takemura, K. Yamada, K. Ikehara, T. Haraguchi, S. Tims, M. Froehlich, L.K. Fifield, T. Aze, K. Sasa, T. Takahashi, M. Matsumura, Y. Tani, P.R. Leavitt, H. Doi, T. Irino, K. Moriya, A. Hayashida, K. Hirose, H. Suzuki, and Y. Saito. 2023. The Beppu Bay, Japan, as a candidate Global Boundaries Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene Series. Anthrop. Rev. doi.org/ 10.1177/20530196221135077
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