[M-ZZ41] Studies of Geoscience : historical, philosophical and STS studies

[MZZ41-04] Another history of scientific thought on the 'Anthropocene': Between Christian chronology and modern stratigraphy

*Toshihiro Yamada¹ (1.Taisho University)

Keywords:Anthropocene, history of geoscientific thought, Charles Lyell, noosphere, Christian chronology

The scientific stratigraphic definition of the "Anthropocene" is currently on hold due to the decision made at the IUGS commission in spring 2024. In the INHIGEO session at the summer IGC in Busan, I attempted to organize discussions around Steno's chronology and Leibniz's three-era division from the perspective of early modern history of geological sciences. This presentation will begin by reflecting on Charles Lyell's establishment of standards for Cenozoic stratigraphy as seen in the terminology of era names "-cene", and will discuss the era divisions of natural history involving human agency, including Vladimir Vernadsky's and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's concept of the "noosphere." It would inevidably address the notion of a Christian universal history prominent in early modern times, which integrates biblical chronology with secular political history and natural history into a cohesive narrative of geohistory and geotheory.