On Trindade Island, a three- to four-day sail from the Brazilian coast, geologist Fernanda Avelar Santos reportedly found a large amount of plastic forming the rock. Through analysis, she and her team identified the specimens as a new geological formation that fuses the materials and processes the Earth has used to form rocks for billions of years with a new ingredient - plastic waste.
Trindade Island is one of the world's largest breeding grounds for endangered green turtles, with thousands of them arriving each year to lay their eggs. Researchers say this is important evidence of human impact on the Earth's geological cycles. Geologists fear that as the rocks erode, plastic particles will seep into the environment, further contaminating the island's food chain.
