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Geology of the Present Publication

The publication Geology of the Present (2025), part of the Publication series Das Neue Alphabet (The New Alphabet), finds scientists, researchers and artists grappling with concrete stratigraphic materials in an exploration of the opportunities and challenges involved in planetary knowledge production. In which ways can the archives of the Anthropocene be made legible? Included below is a PDF of the publication’s English version.

The history of deep time on the planet is delineated by Earth’s stratigraphic layers. The task of identifying, analyzing and dating the transformation processes at work within the Earth’s systems falls within the remit of the geological sciences. However, the transition from the Holocene to the Anthropocene is turning geology into a social science. Microscopic physical, chemical and biological traces in the sediments are glaring indicators pointing to the acceleration and globalization of economic growth and ecological devastation that has taken place in the last decades. In which ways can the archives of the Anthropocene be made legible? Scientists, researchers and artists grapple with concrete stratigraphic materials in an exploration of the opportunities and challenges involved in planetary knowledge production.

Information

Publication series Das Neue Alphabet (The New Alphabet), Volume 17
Editors: Niklas Hoffmann-Walbeck, Katrin Klingan, Georg Schäfer
Publisher: Spector Books, Leipzig
ca. 90 pages, German and English edition
color illustrations, paperback with folded dust cover
ISBN DE: 978-3-95905-594-9
ISBN EN: 978-3-95905-595-6
Price: 10 €

Order the print version here.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Niklas Hoffmann-Walbeck, Katrin Klingan, Georg Schäfer

Earth Indices: Processing the Anthropocene
Giulia Bruno and Armin Linke

The Anthropocene as a Geological Time Unit
Simon Turner

12 Perspectives of the Anthropocene
Rowan Deer

Glossary

 

Geology of the Present