The Holocene is the current geological epoch within the Quaternary Period, beginning approximately 11,700 years before present, following the end of the Pleistocene and the last major glaciation. Defined stratigraphically by a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) at the end of the Younger Dryas, it is characterized by relatively stable interglacial climate conditions, rapid postglacial sea-level rise, and the expansion of Holocene biota and soils. The epoch encompasses the development of agriculture, complex human societies, and extensive anthropogenic modification of Earth systems, and is subdivided into Greenlandian, Northgrippian, and Meghalayan ages based on distinct climatic and stratigraphic markers.
Recent "unprecedented" floods are not exceptional if we look further into the past, new research shows.
Earth Sciences
Mar 31, 2025
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Humans have remodeled the Earth so profoundly that in 2000, atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen and biologist Eugene Stoermer proposed that the Holocene epoch had ended and the "Anthropocene," or human epoch, had begun.
Earth Sciences
Mar 25, 2025
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New geological data has given more insight into the rate and magnitude of global sea level rise following the last ice age, about 11,700 years ago. This information is of great importance to understand the impact global warming ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 19, 2025
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Using a sediment core taken from the Great Blue Hole off the coast of the Central American state of Belize, researchers from the universities of Frankfurt, Cologne, Göttingen, Hamburg and Bern have analyzed the local climate ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 18, 2025
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