Compiled: Mintina
Geologists say the plastic rock is here
Photo courtesy: Video screenshot
Scientists say they found rocks made of plastic at a remote turtle shelter 1,100 kilometers from Brazil's main continent.
Yes, "rock" - the most solid form of basic matter on Earth. Geologists described the discovery as "gruesome." ”
Fernanda Avelar Santos, a master's student at the Federal University of Parana in Brazil, found plastic deposits on a beach in the Trinidade region. No one lives on this road, except for the few Brazilian navy members who maintain the incentive here to protect the green sea turtles that nest around.
According to media reports, "thousands" of sea turtles appear here every year to lay their own eggs. The volcano is home to a large number of species, in part because of the lack of natural predators.
Brazil's easternmost territory, the island of Trinidade
Photo courtesy of Simone Marinho/Wiki Commons
Melted fishing nets
But it's remote and peaceful, but it still can't escape the effects of ocean plastic.
The items Santo's team found consisted mainly of melted plastic from fishing nets. In the study, published in the journal Sciencedirect, they describe their findings, "the same as nature [rock], but made up of plastic." ”
It can't be defined on the basis of existing records, which they call "plastosomes."
Loose nets are "quite common garbage on the beaches of Trinidade," Santos said. "[Fishing nets] are dragged into the water by ocean currents and pile up on beaches. As temperatures rise, these plastics melt and merge with the natural substance of the beach. ”
Santos sees it as a worrying landmark in the planet's geological development. If the scientific community accepts his team's findings, it also confirms that plastic pollution has penetrated deep into the Earth's rockbed material. According to National Geographic, this marked the beginning of a whole new era in Earth's history — the Anthropocene, or the period in which human influence was defined.
Photo courtesy: Video screenshot
"Pollution, marine litter and plastic that is randomly discarded in the ocean becomes geological material... Preserved by Earth's geological record," she explains. "We've talked so much about the Anthropocene, and now, here we are."
This article was originally published in The Inertia magazine.
Source: Sam Anderson