Our changing environment: Plastic found inside rocks

"Plasticrocks" is the name given by the geologist who found the new geological feature in the paradise island of Trindade.

Despite being one of the most inaccessible and isolated places on the planet, Trinidade Island, located 1200 km off the coast of Brazil, is undergoing devastating, geological changes thanks to humans.

Plastic and microplastic waste carried by sea currents over the years has accumulated along the shores, beaches and reefs of this once pristine island in the Atlantic Ocean, with plastic penetrating the geology of the rocks.

Geologist Fernanda Avelar Santos analysed the plastic in samples from volcanic outcrop. Inside the rocks, the team discovered the intrusion of plastic, amid the mineral components usually found in rocks.

A sobering statement from the Geologist: "We concluded that humans are now geological agents, impacting processes that were previously completely natural, such as rock formation.

This type of plastic waste in rock formations will go into the record as a symbol of the Anthropocene, a concept of a geological era in which humans have an influence on nature."