Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz takes the reader on a fascinating trip one hundred million years into the future--long after the human race becomes extinct--to explore what will remain of our brief but dramatic sojourn on Earth. He describes how geologists in the far future might piece together the history of the planet, and slowly decipher the history of humanity from the traces we will leave impressed in the rock strata. What story will the rocks tell of us? What kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to ...
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Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz takes the reader on a fascinating trip one hundred million years into the future--long after the human race becomes extinct--to explore what will remain of our brief but dramatic sojourn on Earth. He describes how geologists in the far future might piece together the history of the planet, and slowly decipher the history of humanity from the traces we will leave impressed in the rock strata. What story will the rocks tell of us? What kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to cities, cars, and plastic cups?
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This is a quirky guide to geological process, with a unique human (or post- human) focus. In a nutshell, the premise is that we do not compete with the dinosaurs for longevity as a species, but become extinct in a geological moment. Circa 100 million years A.D., a race of rather academically inclined, space-faring aliens arrive on Earth. This motif arises in each of the ten chapters - gradually the newcomers (and we, the readers) learn about Earth, and about the ways geologists see the landscape. This conceit aside, this book is all science, not science fiction.
Fair disclosure: I have known author Jan since the late 70s, though we have inhabited different sides of the Atlantic for most of the past four decades. Jan is a leading light in the move to define our present, human-modified world in terms of the Anthropocene epoch. You may have read of him in the writings of Elizabeth Kolbert ("The Sixth Extinction"; sundry New Yorker articles).
Recommended.
A few of my own notes follow, for anyone who wants to know more of the contents...
The highlights of "The Earth After Us" include a nice description of weathering and the formation of clay minerals (p.21) and the nature of mud (pp.21-22) - the nature of fossils was recognized in China long before a similar consensus was reached in Europe (p.25) - history of science - marine sediments, turbidity currents and turbidites - some topics are treated especially well, often with droll humour - sedimentology - Agassiz, glacial geology, Milankovitch cycles and biostratigraphy (pp.101- 104) - Milankovitch cycles are recorded in deep sea sediment cores (pp.108-114), and offer a new stratigraphic tool, based on astronomical rhythms of Earth, Moon, Sun and solar system - the Cretaceous Chalk - human record of deforestation and extinctions (pp.125-134) - pollen (pp.126-130) - human threat to coral reefs (pp.134-138) - climate change, the Anthropocene, trace fossils - traces of human activities, e.g., sport arenas and cinemas ("frivolichnia") - what might remain of a city, perhaps submerged in the near future, in 100 million years? (pp.165-172) - building materials such as brick, glass, metals, plastics: their origins, natural equivalents, alteration, and future after burial - potential for fossilization of human remains (pp.191-218) - skeletons, bone and soft tissue - of sea cucumber, graptolite and wildebeest - lagerstatten with excellent preservation, such as Rhynie chert (Scotland), Solnhofen limestone of Germany, Burgess shale of BC and Chengjiang mudstones, China (pp.202-209) - a unique book, quite an easy read for an interested non-specialist, with minimal errors (p.121: 35 Ma should be 65 Ma).
