The rock that signals people's fears have come true

Scientists in Brazil have discovered rocks mixed with plastic on the volcanic island of Trindade, raising concerns about environmental pollution and its impact on animals and marine life in the area, Reuters reported.

Scientists say melted plastic debris has mixed with rocks on Trindade Island , located about 1,140km off the southeastern Brazilian state of Espirito Santo, in a sign of the growing human impact on the Earth's geological cycles.

Rock samples mixed with plastic waste were found on Brazil's Trindade Island. (Photo: Reuters).

"This is a new discovery but very scary because the pollution is starting to affect the geology , " said Fernanda Avelar Santos, a geologist at the Federal University of Parana.

Santos and her team conducted chemical tests to determine what type of plastic was mixed with the rocks. The scientists named the newly discovered rocks 'plastiglomerates' because they are made up of a mixture of sediment particles and other debris, bound together by plastic.

"We identified that the pollution mainly came from fishing nets , a common type of waste on the beaches of Trindade Island ," said Ms. Santos.

'These nets are carried by ocean currents and accumulate on beaches. As temperatures rise, the plastic in the nets melts and becomes bonded to natural materials on the beach ,' she added.

Trindade Island is one of the most important conservation areas in the world for green turtles, also known as Chelonia mydas . Thousands of turtles come here every year to lay their eggs. The only people living on the island are members of the Brazilian navy, who maintain a base on Trindade Island to protect the turtles' breeding grounds.

'The place where we found the rocks mixed with plastic is in a permanently protected area in Brazil, close to a green turtle nesting site ,' said Ms. Santos.

'We talk about the Anthropocene all the time, and it's here ,' said Santos. The Anthropocene is a geological epoch created by human impacts on the planet's ecosystems and geology.

'The pollution, plastic waste in the seas and oceans is being converted into geological material and will be preserved in the geology of the Earth ,' she predicted.