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Plastic Trash Forming Into "Plastiglomerate" Rocks

Posted by samzenpus on from the earth-plus-plastic dept.

sciencehabit (1205606) writes 'Plastic may be with us a lot longer than we thought. In addition to clogging up landfills and becoming trapped in Arctic ice, some of it is turning into stone. Scientists say a new type of rock cobbled together from plastic, volcanic rock, beach sand, seashells, and corals has begun forming on the shores of Hawaii. The new material--which the researchers are calling a "plastiglomerate"--may be becoming so pervasive that it actually becomes part of the geologic record.'

12 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. UV by tekrat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Riddle me this batman... UV light breaks down plastic, I've witnessed it every time I restore a car, or an old computer. All the plastic becomes brittle, breaks down, and eventually crumbles to plastic dust... Why doesn't this happen to the plastic in the ocean -- and everywhere else?

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re: UV by GreyLurk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The plastic dust is probably what makes up the Plastiglomerate

    2. Re:UV by bmo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      >microbes eating plastic

      You're not the only one to ask that question.

      http://www.goodreads.com/book/...

      I picked that book up in the 70s and the story sorta stuck with me. Worth the read.

      --
      BMO

    3. Re:UV by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Informative

      Riddle me this batman... UV light breaks down plastic, I've witnessed it every time I restore a car, or an old computer. All the plastic becomes brittle, breaks down, and eventually crumbles to plastic dust... Why doesn't this happen to the plastic in the ocean -- and everywhere else?

      Most of the plastic IS the dust - the big plastic garbage patch is made up of really tiny pellets after the big chunks have broken down.

      And what's happening looks like the plastic is breaking down and the pieces are starting to glob together forming some strange multi-material piece of plastic.

      Of course, once the dust gets small enough, the breakdown has to happen by UV only. In a big chunk, the plastic becomes brittle and the wave action helps break it down further, but once it's dust, it's too small for mechanical breakdown.

    4. Re:UV by TapeCutter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It does, eventually, all depends on the type of plastic and is heavily dependent on the time it takes antibacteial agents within the plastic to break down. It's been known for quite some time that there does not seem to be any surface anywhere on the planet that does not have some microscopic plastic dust sprinkled on it. What these guys have noticed is that recent formations of sandstone/mudstone(?) contain plastic dust. To paraphrase the great Carlin, "The Earth doesn't care, it just incorporates palstic into a new paradigm - The Earth plus plastic."

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    5. Re: UV by jandersen · · Score: 4, Informative

      This may be an interesting parallell to what happened during the Carboniferous era, when apparently plant matter didn't rot away until the fungi evolved the ability to break down lignin. As a matter of fact, there are a few fungi that are able to attack some kinds of plastic too.

  2. Don't Miss the Rush... by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now is the time to start buying mining rights for all that valuable plastic ore.

  3. Our age will be known as... by guygo · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Plasticene.

  4. George Carlin was Right! by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Earth wanted plastic.

    1. Re:George Carlin was Right! by retroworks · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Parent link George Carlin (Q:"Why are we here?" A:"Plastic, asshole.") routine was insightful. Reporting on environmental problems needs to better distinguish between serious harms like habitat loss and species extinction, resource conservation issues (one generation using everything up - like fresh water - disadvantaging later human generations), and what researchers call "fetishizing". The "fetish" is used when people are made to feel guilty about something (e.g. "waste") and continue to attach guilt and responsibility to the item based not on risk but on past human ownership. This can lead to regulations which disadvantage recycling (secondary copper smelters), secondary markets (e.g. used display devices and cell phones) disproportionately to the risk.

      There are some interesting academic papers on environmental fetishes and untended consequences of fixations based on previous human 'ownership' and 'guilt association'. Many environmentalists are scientists and are aware of the 'quasi-religion' of moral risk association, but are afraid to speak openly about it the same as the Renaissance's great thinkers were afraid to publicly pose their doubts about Christianity. The philosophers doubted much about sources of Christian ethics but were concerned about replacing it with anarchy. Scientific environmentalists have similar concerns about exposing "fetish" environmentalism without discrediting actual moral progress on stewardship.

      --
      Gently reply
  5. And neither does anyone else... by Y.A.A.P. · · Score: 5, Informative

    Please, RTFA!

    The scientists in this article are classifying the characteristics of a new heterogeneous material, which is a necessity as the time for breakdown of this material may make it a significant part of the fossil record.

    The scientists are not saying it is a new form of rock. Only possibly the submitter or samzenpus are (mistakenly) saying this.

    To repeat: RTFA, no new rocks here!

  6. Like organic things in dinosaur era by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Does this mean that like organic things in dinosaur era which turned into petroleum in favorable conditions, these plasticrocks will turn to rock oil ?