SETI, The Silurian Hypothesis, and Defining the Anthropocene

SETI, The Silurian Hypothesis, and Defining the Anthropocene

Was There a Civilization On Earth Before Humans? Adam Frank, The Atlantic, April 13, 2018
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/are-we-earths-only-civilization/557180/

Schmidt, G.A. and Frank, A., 2018. The Silurian hypothesis: would it be possible to detect an industrial civilization in the geological record? International Journal of Astrobiology, pp. 1-9.
https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.03748

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/silurian-hypothesis-would-it-be-possible-to-detect-an-industrial-civilization-in-the-geological-record/77818514AA6907750B8F4339F7C70EC6

There are two very good books that discuss what a technological civilization, ours, would leave behind in the archaeological – geological record.

They are;

Weisman, A., 2008. The world without us. Macmillan.
0312427905, 9780312427900

and

Zalasiewicz, J. and Freedman, K., 2009. The Earth after us: what legacy will humans leave in the rocks?.
Oxford University Press. 0199214980, 9780199214983

Dr. Zalasiewicz has written a papers about the Anthropocene and the signature and traces that would survive in the geologic record. Examples are:

Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C.N. and Williams, M., 2014.Human bioturbation, and the subterranean landscape of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene, 6, pp. 3-9.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264241410_Human_bioturbation_and_the_subterranean_landscape_of_the_Anthropocene

and

Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Waters, C.N., Barnosky, A.D. and Haff, P., 2014. The technofossil record of humans. The Anthropocene Review, 1(1), pp. 34-43.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264461538_The_technofossil_record_of_humans

Related papers can be found at:

Jan Zalasiewicz, University of Leicester, Department of Geology,
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan_Zalasiewicz

Yours,

Paul H.

"The past is never dead. It's not even past."
William Faulkner, Act 1, Scene III, Requiem for a Nun (1951)