“This is a new and also frightening phenomenon because pollution has reached geology,” said Fernanda Avelar Santos, one of the authors of the finding.
Santos and his team performed chemical analyzes to find out what types of plastic are found in rocks, called “plastiglomerates” because they are made up of a mixture of sedimentary granules and other debris held together by plastic.
They determined that the pollution was mainly caused by fishing nets, which are very common on the island’s beaches. Nets are pulled by sea currents and accumulate on the beach. As the temperature rises, the plastic melts and becomes part of the beach’s natural material.
Source: Ferra
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