(ORDO NEWS) — Green rocks of uneven shape filled the volcanic island of the Caribbean. Geologists have explained where these stones came from. And we tell why it caused a public outcry.
Amazing find
Researchers from the Federal University of Parana in Brazil have discovered strange stones on one of the small islands of Trinidad (near Venezuela) that should not be there.
They are made of green plastic, although people have never lived on this island.
This island is formed by a volcano. You cannot meet people on it, but you can find colonies of thousands of turtles that come here every year to lay their eggs.
Scientists call the island “a secluded sanctuary for turtles.” Here the animal can be sure that nothing will happen to the offspring, since the island is completely devoid of predators (except for birds).
After the scientists “visited” the turtles, they discovered that hundreds of multi-colored stones, mostly green, lie off the coast of the island. Analysis of the rock showed that it was plastic mixed with solidified volcanic magma.
Mother nature or man?
Of course, the second. Scientists have determined that the plastic stones were formed in the following way. The waves nailed the plastic left by the man in the sea to the island.
Left lying on the sand, the plastic began to heat up under the influence of sunlight. This led to the fact that the plastic began to melt and mix with local rocks.
In total, scientists have discovered 4 types of plastics. One type has even been identified – these are molten green fishing nets, which explains the corresponding shade of stones.
Scientists have named the “mixture” of plastic and rocks with the complex term “plastiglomerates”.
Scientists sound the alarm
If earlier it was believed that the garbage left by a person is only a problem of aesthetic appearance, now everything has gone too far.
There is so much unrecycled plastic that it has begun to mix with rocks and directly affect the geological composition of the Earth.
“This is a discovery and it’s terrible at the same time, because the pollution has reached the geology,” says Fernanda Avelar Santos of the Federal University of Parana in Brazil.
The discovery signals that the Anthropocene – an era in the history of the planet, determined by the impact of human development on the atmosphere, climate and other geological functions of the Earth – is in full swing.
“We talk so much about the Anthropocene and here it is,” said Fernanda Avelar Santos.
The end of the story is simple: Brazilian scientists are now patrolling the island of Trinidad in order to protect the turtles and their offspring from toxic plastic.
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