ABSTRACT
For anyone raised in the tradition of field-based Quaternary studies in northwestern Europe, the transition from the end of glacial times to the beginning of the Holocene is one of the most notable and readily detectable of stratigraphic boundaries. Almost everywhere, it is marked by evidence for a dramatic shift in surface processes, denoting a major climate change that in turn triggered a whole sequence of responses in both abiotic and biotic ecosystem components. Evidence for the precise age, suddenness and synchroneity of the transition has gradually accumulated over the last 70 years until now, we have remarkably precise chronological control on its timing, the pace of change and the extraordinary spatial and temporal coherence of response over large areas of the globe. Indeed, were it not that colleagues dealing with contemporary transformations of the Earth System had placed their concerns so firmly under the heading of ‘Global Change’, that term could serve perfectly for the opening of the Holocene.
