Anthropocene Unconformities: On the Aporias of Geological Space and Time

This article considers the Anthropocene, or “the age of humans,” the new geological epoch that has been proposed to describe the present time. A geological “unconformity,” however, is “missing time,” an interval or hiatus in the sedimentary geological record that helps geologists determine where epochs begin and end. It is anticipated that the geological record of the Anthropocene might be visible in the future in the numerous possible unconformities in tornado, hurricane, and earthquake zones, identified by successions of building rubble and metal oxides along with fossilized evidence of radioactive material, plastic pollution, increased carbon dioxide levels, and the shifts, distribution, and extinction of species. As the Anthropocene epoch gains ground and acceptance in a number of disciplinary fields, it promises to alter more than the wording in geological textbooks. The text explores the aporetic nature of geological space and time evoked by thinking about Anthropocene unconformities in an unstable world.