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rocksin2019,whenshetravelled ingsare now actingasageolog- ? totheislandtoresearchherdoc- icalagent,influencingprocesses W:
toral thesis on acompletelydif- that werepreviously completely ^ . - ferenttopic—landslides,erosion natural,likerockformation,”she : a*- —.v
andother“geologicalrisks”. toldAFP. j?_
She was working near a pro- “Itfits in withthe ideaofthe a.* tected nature reserve known as Anthropocene, which scientists TurtleBeach,theworld’slargest aretalkingaboutalotthesedays: :V.v breeding ground forthe endan- the geologicalera ofhumanbe- ^ gered green turtle, when she ingsinfluencingtheplanet’snat- cameacrossalargeoutcropofthe uralprocesses.Thistypeofrock- HEREare fewplaceson peculiar-looking blue-green like plasticwill be preserved in ^
Earth as isolated as rocks. the geological record and mark '
Trindade island, a vol- Intrigued, shetooksomeback theAnthropocene.”
canicoutcropathree-to to her lab after her two-month Thefindinglefther“disturbed”
four-dayboattripoffthecoastof expedition. and “upset”, saidSantos, a pro- ^ --—f., _...
Brazil. Analysing them, she and her fessorattheFederalUniversityof :
So geologist Fernanda Avelar teamidentifiedthespecimensas Parana,insouthernBrazil. Sg? rV A-;-
Santoswasstartledtofindanun- a newkind ofgeological forma- ShedescribesTrindadeas“like % :8r* ■"iwr ttij-’V y' •' ' -**-•
settlingsignofhumanimpacton tion, mergingthe materials and paradise” with the only human Geologistswerestartledtofind plasticrocks ontheremoteBrazilian the otherwise untouched land- processesthe Earth hasused to presence on the South Atlantic islandofTrindadeduringascientificexpedition, afppix/paranafederal
scape:rocksformedfromtheglut form rocks for billions ofyears island is a small Brazilian mil- university/fernandaavelar
ofplasticpollutionfloatinginthe with a new ingredient: plastic itary base and a scientific re
trash.
“Weconcludedthathumanbe-
Plastic waste contaminating natural processes that form rocks
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tionwhatistrulynatural.”
The main ingredient in the
searchcentre. foodchain.
“So it was all the more horri- Sheandherteam’sstudy,pub-
fyingtofindsomethinglikethis lished inSeptemberinthejour- rocksSantosdiscoveredwasrem-+
nal Marine Pollution Bulletin, nantsoffishingnets,theyfound, classifiedthenewkindof“rocks”
ocean.
Santos first found the plastic
— and on oneofthe most eco
logicallyimportantbeaches.” . _, ,
Continuing her research, she found worldwide into several swept an abundance or bottles, found similar rock-like plastic types:“plastiglomerates”,similar householdwasteandotherplas- formations had previously been tosedimentaryrocks;“pyroplas- tictrashfromaroundtheworldto reported in places, including tics”,similartoclasticrocks;and theisland,shesaid.
Hawaii Britain,Italyand Japan, a previously unidentified type, Santos said she planned to since2014. “plastistones”,similartoigneous makethetopichermainresearch
ButTrindadeislandwasthere- rocksformedbylavaflow. focus,
motestplaceon the planetthey “Marinepollutionisprovoking Trindade‘isthemost pristine havebeenfoundsofar,shesaid. aparadigm shiftforconceptsof placeI’veeverseen”,shesaid.
She fears that as the rocks rock and sedimentary deposit “Seeinghowvulnerableitisto erode theywillleachmicroplas- formations,”herteamwrote. the trash contaminating our tics into the environment and "Humaninterventionsarenow oceansshowshowpervasivethe furthercontaminatetheisland’s sopervasivethatonehastoques- problemisworldwide.”AFP
But ocean currents had also
Themain !
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fishingnets, bottles, household wasteand otherplastic rubbish.
