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Recognizing anthropogenic modification of the subsurface in the geological record

View ORCID ProfileColin N. Waters, View ORCID ProfileCaroline Graham, View ORCID ProfileDeodato Tapete, Simon J. Price, View ORCID ProfileLorraine Field, Andrew G. Hughes and Jan Zalasiewicz
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 52, 83-98, 28 September 2018, https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2017-007
Colin N. Waters
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
2School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
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  • ORCID record for Colin N. Waters
  • For correspondence: cw398@leicester.ac.uk
Caroline Graham
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
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  • ORCID record for Caroline Graham
Deodato Tapete
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
3Italian Space Agency (ASI), Via del Politecnico snc, 00133 Rome, Italy
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  • ORCID record for Deodato Tapete
Simon J. Price
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
4Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EN, UK
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Lorraine Field
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
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Andrew G. Hughes
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
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Jan Zalasiewicz
2School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
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Abstract

Humankind, in its technological development, is increasingly utilizing both mineral resources from Earth's interior and developing the rock mass as a resource in itself. In this paper we review the types of anthropogenic intrusion, at different depth ranges, that can modify the physical structure and chemistry of the subsurface. Using examples from across the world, but with emphasis on the UK, and physical models of the induced modifications, we predict what kind of subsurface signatures a geologist of the future might recognize as anthropogenic, including boreholes, tunnels and caverns, waste and resource storage facilities, mineral workings and military test traces. The potential of these anthropogenic signatures to be discriminated from natural analogues is discussed against known or modelled processes of deterioration and transformation over geological timescales of millennia or longer.

  • © 2018 UKRI. British Geological Survey. Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights reserved
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Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology: 52 (1)
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
Volume 52, Issue 1
February 2019
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Recognizing anthropogenic modification of the subsurface in the geological record

Colin N. Waters, Caroline Graham, Deodato Tapete, Simon J. Price, Lorraine Field, Andrew G. Hughes and Jan Zalasiewicz
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 52, 83-98, 28 September 2018, https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2017-007
Colin N. Waters
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
2School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Colin N. Waters
  • For correspondence: cw398@leicester.ac.uk
Caroline Graham
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Caroline Graham
Deodato Tapete
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
3Italian Space Agency (ASI), Via del Politecnico snc, 00133 Rome, Italy
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Deodato Tapete
Simon J. Price
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
4Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EN, UK
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Lorraine Field
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
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  • ORCID record for Lorraine Field
Andrew G. Hughes
1British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
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Jan Zalasiewicz
2School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
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Recognizing anthropogenic modification of the subsurface in the geological record

Colin N. Waters, Caroline Graham, Deodato Tapete, Simon J. Price, Lorraine Field, Andrew G. Hughes and Jan Zalasiewicz
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 52, 83-98, 28 September 2018, https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2017-007
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    • Abstract
    • Structural impacts of subsurface modification as distinctive anthropogenic features
    • Chemical alteration of the subsurface as a distinctive anthropogenic feature
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