Plastic Trash Forming Into "Plastiglomerate" Rocks 123
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.'
UV (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?
Re: UV (Score:5, Insightful)
George Carlin was Right! (Score:5, Insightful)
The Earth wanted plastic. [youtube.com]
Re:UV (Score:5, Insightful)
>microbes eating plastic
You're not the only one to ask that question.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/... [goodreads.com]
I picked that book up in the 70s and the story sorta stuck with me. Worth the read.
--
BMO
I don't think they are rocks (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:George Carlin called it (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Our age will be known as... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think The Obscene will capture the spirit better.
Re:UV (Score:5, Insightful)
Typical AAAS tripe (Score:3, Insightful)
Here's the key phrase out of the abstract: "...melted plastic during campfire burning... [increases] the potential for burial and subsequent preservation". Why? Because lumps of melted plastic stick to sand or rocks, and hence are more likely to not blow away, be degraded by UV or whatever.
This is a topic for a scientific paper, and deem headline-worthy by the AAAS? I knew there was a reason I cancelled my membership a couple of decades ago...