I ran into this news article by the university of Glasgow. Geologists there have found that man-made materials are turning into new types of stones/minerals even as fast as under 40 years. They also warn, that the reactions by this new minerals with their environs, can cause new and unexpected environmental issues.
Anthropocene as a geological epoch just gained more validity.
It’s impressive…
In a few years this tyre will have disappeared, swallowed by the rock! which is forming faster than sea level rise…
A very optimistic mind could hope that part of the anthropogenic CO2 and (micro) plastics may also be “neutralized” at some point!
Looking at the article, it appears to analyze how slag heaps change over time. “Researchers from the University of Glasgow have found that slag, an industrial waste product produced by the steel industry, is turning into solid rock in as little as 35 years.”
Yes, that is what led to this realization, when lithified or -fying man-made things started to be found in different places around the world because it was made known that this could happen, and people started to look for them.
Unfortunately the IUGS governing body rejected that concept last year
https://www.iugs.org/post/the-anthropocene-iugs-ics-statement
