SE Saline Everglades Transgressive Sedimentation in Response to Historic Acceleration in Sea-Level Rise: A Viable Marker for the Base of the Anthropocene?

Rate of global eustatic sea-level rise during the Holocene Epoch has been identified as the principle cause of observed changes or inferred evolution of nontectonic coastal systems in mid-to low-latitude areas. The rate of rise is now three times faster than it was for the past several thousand years and similar to values associated with the middle Holocene marine transgression. This acceleration can be attributed to human-caused global warming. In this investigation, the effects of accelerating sea-level rise on coastal sedimentary environments of the SE Saline Everglades were quantified. The results reveal historic changes to coastal habitat, sedimentation, and stratigraphy that are transgressive. These changes initiated during the early 20th century and are attributed to accelerating sea-level rise. As this acceleration and the resulting geologic record is a suspected consequence of human-induced global warming, the paper concludes with a discussion of the relevance of these observations, in tandem with others, to the current debate over the utility and use of the proposed Anthropocene.