European researchers made this discovery while examining sedimentary rock layers in three Latvian lakes. Their aim was to determine whether the presence of microplastics could mark the beginning of the Anthropocene, generally defined as the early 1950s. Scientists have traditionally relied on layers of volcanic ash or ice cores to study Earth’s history. This study explored the possibility that microplastics play a similar role in marking the Anthropocene. However, the results obtained show the opposite. Microplastics were present in all sediment layers examined, including one dating back to 1733. This is more than 200 years ahead of the traditional starting point of the Anthropocene.
The researchers concluded that the distribution of microplastics in these sediments was “ambiguous” and did not definitively mark the beginning of the Anthropocene. This calls into question previous attempts to use microplastics as a chronological marker of this era.
Source: Ferra
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