The Earth After Us

What legacy will humans leave in the rocks?

Jan Zalasiewicz

This book imagines the world 100 million years from now - a novel perspective of our reign on Earth, and looks at what future aliens may find as they piece together the history of the planet from the rocks
Uses this approach to show the difficulties of interpreting the Earth's past history from the rocks, and explains the ingenious ways in which geologists and palaeontologists work
Provides a novel way at looking at geological processes and mechanisms - from fossilization to plate tectonics
Asks intriguing questions, such as what kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to cities, roads, cars, and plastic cups? How thick a layer would the nullhuman stratumnull be? And what clues might the rocks reveal about our demise as a species?
Provides a unique perspective on environmental change - and argues that the geological legacy of Homo sapiens will provide the ultimate verdict on our species and on our relationship with the planet

The Earth After Us

What legacy will humans leave in the rocks?

Jan Zalasiewicz

Description

What would alien visitors in the far future, piecing together the history of earth, find of our brief reign? What clues will we leave? What fossils? Just as we have gained knowledge of the past, of ancient climates and the activities of creatures long dead, so too might they decode the rocks.

The Earth After Us takes a novel approach to show how geologists unravel the information in the rocks. As the alien scientists start investigating the strata, what story will they tell of us? What kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to cities, cars, and plastic cups? How thick a layer will the 'human stratum' be? And will it be obvious which species dominated the planet?