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Scientists make 'disturbing' find on remote island: plastic rocks

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Joshua Howat Berger, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="This handout picture released by the Parana Federal University (UFPR) shows " plastic="" found="" at="" the="" Trindade="" Espirito="" Santo="" on="" September="" that="" are="" part="" of="" a="" scientific="" research="" handled="" by="" scientists="" UFPR.="" There="" few="" places="" Earth="" as="" isolated="" volcanic="" outcrop="" three-="" to="" four-day="" boat="" trip="" off="" coast="" Brazil.="" So="" geologist="" Fernanda="" Avelar="" Santos="" was="" startled="" find="" an="" unsettling="" sign="" human="" impact="" otherwise="" untouched="" landscape:="" rocks="" formed="" from="" glut="" pollution="" floating="" in="" ocean.="" AVELAR="" Parana="" Federal="" University="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/afp/03/21/20230321-plastic-rocks-1.jpg"/><figcaption>This handout picture released by the Parana Federal University (UFPR) shows &quot;plastic rocks&quot; found at the Trindade Island, Espirito Santo state, Brazil, on September 2, 2022, that are part of a scientific research handled by scientists of the UFPR. There are few places on Earth as isolated as Trindade island, a volcanic outcrop a three- to four-day boat trip off the coast of Brazil. So geologist Fernanda Avelar Santos was startled to find an unsettling sign of human impact on the otherwise untouched landscape: rocks formed from the glut of plastic pollution floating in the ocean. <em>Fernanda AVELAR / Parana Federal University / AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - There are few places on Earth as isolated as Trindade island, a volcanic outcrop a three- to four-day boat trip off the coast of Brazil.</p><p>So geologist Fernanda Avelar Santos was startled to find an unsettling sign of human impact on the otherwise untouched landscape: rocks formed from the glut of plastic pollution floating in the ocean.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/06/10/21/philippines-global-plastic-problem-study">Philippines contributes to over one-third of world&#x27;s ocean plastic waste - study</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/03/10/23/rise-in-ocean-plastic-pollution-unprecedented-since-2005">Rise in ocean plastic pollution &#x27;unprecedented&#x27; since 2005</a></li></ul><p>Santos first found the plastic rocks in 2019, when she traveled to the island to research her doctoral thesis on a completely different topic -- landslides, erosion and other &quot;geological risks.&quot;</p><p>She was working near a protected nature reserve known as Turtle Beach, the world&#x27;s largest breeding ground for the endangered green turtle, when she came across a large outcrop of the peculiar-looking blue-green rocks.</p><p>Intrigued, she took some back to her lab after her two-month expedition.</p><p>Analyzing them, she and her team identified the specimens as a new kind of geological formation, merging the materials and processes the Earth has used to form rocks for billions of years with a new ingredient: plastic trash.</p><p>&quot;We concluded that human beings are now acting as a geological agent, influencing processes that were previously completely natural, like rock formation,&quot; she told AFP.</p><p>&quot;It fits in with the idea of the Anthropocene, which scientists are talking about a lot these days: the geological era of human beings influencing the planet&#x27;s natural processes. This type of rock-like plastic will be preserved in the geological record and mark the Anthropocene.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="This handout picture released by the Parana Federal University (UFPR) shows " plastic="" found="" at="" the="" Trindade="" Espirito="" Santo="" on="" September="" that="" are="" part="" of="" a="" scientific="" research="" handled="" by="" scientists="" UFPR.="" There="" few="" places="" Earth="" as="" isolated="" volcanic="" outcrop="" three-="" to="" four-day="" boat="" trip="" off="" coast="" Brazil.="" So="" geologist="" Fernanda="" Avelar="" Santos="" was="" startled="" find="" an="" unsettling="" sign="" human="" impact="" otherwise="" untouched="" landscape:="" rocks="" formed="" from="" glut="" pollution="" floating="" in="" ocean.="" AVELAR="" Parana="" Federal="" University="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/afp/03/21/20230321-plastic-rocks.jpg"/><figcaption>This handout picture released by the Parana Federal University (UFPR) shows &quot;plastic rocks&quot; found at the Trindade Island, Espirito Santo state, Brazil, on September 2, 2022, that are part of a scientific research handled by scientists of the UFPR. There are few places on Earth as isolated as Trindade island, a volcanic outcrop a three- to four-day boat trip off the coast of Brazil. So geologist Fernanda Avelar Santos was startled to find an unsettling sign of human impact on the otherwise untouched landscape: rocks formed from the glut of plastic pollution floating in the ocean. <em>Fernanda AVELAR / Parana Federal University / AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><div><br/><strong>Island paradise</strong></div><p>The finding left her &quot;disturbed&quot; and &quot;upset,&quot; said Santos, a professor at the Federal University of Parana, in southern Brazil.</p><p>She describes Trindade as &quot;like paradise&quot;: a beautiful tropical island whose remoteness has made it a refuge for all sorts of species -- sea birds, fish found only there, nearly extinct crabs, the green turtle.</p><p>The only human presence on the South Atlantic island is a small Brazilian military base and a scientific research center.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s marvelous,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;So it was all the more horrifying to find something like this -- and on one of the most ecologically important beaches.&quot;</p><p>She returned to the island late last year to collect more specimens and dig deeper into the phenomenon.</p><p>Continuing her research, she found similar rock-like plastic formations had previously been reported in places including Hawaii, Britain, Italy and Japan since 2014.</p><p>But Trindade island is the remotest place on the planet they have been found so far, she said.</p><p>She fears that as the rocks erode, they will leach microplastics into the environment and further contaminate the island&#x27;s food chain.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/multimedia/slideshow/05/05/22/philippines-upcycles-its-way-out-of-its-plastic-pollution-crisis">From waste to furniture: Philippines upcycles its way out of its plastic pollution crisis</a></li></ul><div><strong>&#x27;Paradigm shift&#x27;</strong></div><p>She and her team&#x27;s study, published in September in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, classified the new kind of &quot;rocks&quot; found worldwide into several types: &quot;plastiglomerates,&quot; similar to sedimentary rocks; &quot;pyroplastics,&quot; similar to clastic rocks; and a previously unidentified type, &quot;plastistones,&quot; similar to igneous rocks formed by lava flow.</p><p>&quot;Marine pollution is provoking a paradigm shift for concepts of rock and sedimentary deposit formations,&quot; her team wrote.</p><p>&quot;Human interventions are now so pervasive that one has to question what is truly natural.&quot;</p><p>The main ingredient in the rocks Santos discovered was remnants of fishing nets, they found.</p><p>But ocean currents have also swept an abundance of bottles, household waste and other plastic trash from around the world to the island, she said.</p><p>Santos said she plans to make the topic her main research focus.</p><p>Trindade &quot;is the most pristine place I&#x27;ve ever seen,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;Seeing how vulnerable it is to the trash contaminating our oceans shows how pervasive the problem is worldwide.&quot;</p><p>jhb/jh/dw</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2479349" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

A geologist finds plastic rocks - rocks formed from the glut of plastic pollution floating in the ocean - in isolated Trindade island off Brazil.

Scientists make 'disturbing' find on remote island: plastic rocks

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Scientists make 'disturbing' find on remote island: plastic rocks

Joshua Howat Berger,

Agence France-Presse

Published Mar 21, 2023 09:54 AM PHT

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