The geology of Brazil’s volcanic island Trindade has fascinated scientists for years, but the discovery of rocks made of plastic debris in this remote turtle haven is raising alarm.
Melted plastic has become entwined with rocks on the island, located 1,140 km (708 miles) from the southeastern state of Espirito Santo, which researchers say is evidence of the growing influence of humans on geological cycles of the earth.
“This is new and terrifying at the same time, because the contamination has reached geology,” said Fernanda Avelar Santos, a geologist at the Federal University of Paraná.
Santos and his team conducted chemical tests to find out what kind of plastic is in the rocks called «plastigglomerates» because they are made of a mixture of sedimentary granules and other debris held together by plastic.
«We identify [the pollution] It comes mainly from fishing nets, which is a very common waste on the beaches of Trinidade Island,” Santos said. «He [nets] They are dragged by sea currents and accumulate on the beach. When the temperature rises, this plastic melts and becomes encrusted with the natural material on the beach.” Trindade Island is one of the world’s top conservation sites for green turtles, or Chelonia mydas, with thousands arriving each year to lay their eggs. The only human inhabitants of Trindade are members of the Brazilian navy, which maintains a base on the island and protects the nesting turtles.
“The place where we found these samples [of plastic] it is a permanent preservation area in Brazil, near the place where green turtles lay their eggs,” Santos said.
The discovery raises questions about the legacy of humans on earth, Santos says.
“We talk a lot about the Anthropocene, and this is it,” Santos said, referring to a proposed geological epoch defined by the impact of humans on the planet’s geology and ecosystems.
“Pollution, litter in the sea, and plastic improperly dumped in the oceans is becoming geological material…preserved in the earth’s geological records.”