GeoSphere

"In early March 2024, an expert panel of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) had a vote to settle a question that had vexed geologists for years: are we living in the Anthropocene, ‘the human age’? The result of the vote was a clear negative. In the realm of geological disciplines, the debate that endured for decades is basically over. However, the term ‘Anthropocene’ has become deeply ingrained in the public imagination and will not be simply erased."

Link to article: https://aeon.co/essays/declared-dead-last-year-the-anthropocene-is-very-much-alive

Wendy Taylor

January 16,2024

Open the Geobulletin here. The article is on page 23

Replacement of the geoheritage plaque at Cogmans Kloof

April 16, 2023

Topic: Geosites

The original plaque pictured (above) was removed along with the plinth during the upgrade of the recent road works along the route between Motagu and Ashton.

The task to replace the plaque has been resurrected and John Rogers and I have undertaken to get this done.

GSSA Geoparks Update

Marcia van Aswegen 16 June 2025

I was invited to the offices of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) in Pretoria at the end of 2024. Mr Vongani Maringa has been passionately motivating for the Geoparks Programme within South Africa for more than a decade. The Blyde River Biosphere already has an established management authority (under the UNESCO Man and Bioshere Programme). It is proposed that this area be progressed toward a formal Global Geopark. 

Khodani Matshusa and Llewellyn Leonard (Researchers at the University of South Africa, under the Department of Environmental Sciences focusing on Geoheritage, Geoparks, and Geotourism research and development) published a comprehensive review of  global governance models that could be applied in South Africa. The review article is entitled “Proposed Governance Model for Geotourism and Geoheritage in South Africa and the Implications for Africa” and was published online in January 2023…