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200-1 A Geological Guide to Understand the Plasticene

Session: Microplastics in the Environment

Presenting Author:

Kathleen Nicoll

Authors:

Nicoll, Kathleen¹, Rangel-Buitrago, Nelson², Ben-Haddad, Mohamed³, Galgani, Francois⁴, Neal, William J.⁵

(1) School of Environment, Society & Sustainability, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, (2) Programa de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad del Atlántico, Barranquilla, Atlántico, USA, (3) Laboratory of Aquatic Systems, Marine and Continental Environments (AQUAMAR), Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, USA, (4) Unité Ressources marines en Polynésie Francaise,, Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer (Ifremer), BP 49, Vairao, Tahiti, USA, (5) Department of Geology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, USA,

Abstract:

The ubiquity and increasing accumulation of human-made plastic litter in natural environments drive fundamental changes in sedimentary processes and stratigraphic records. We present a geological framework for the Plasticene, a proposed chronostratigraphic interval marked by pervasive incorporation of synthetic polymers into sediments across coastal, terrestrial, and marine systems at scales from macro to micro. Plastics behave like sedimentary particles, with comparable size, shape, density, and transport dynamics, but are not identical to mineral grains in their persistence, weathering, and degradation. Plastics present in depositional settings challenge classical sedimentological models and motivate the identification of new rock types, soils, and synthetic facies. Plastic materials are increasingly found in sediment cores, outcrops, beach profiles, and other environments, serving as human activity markers for the Anthropocene. We conceptualize a plastic geological cycle that reinterprets the plastic lifecycle through geological processes, erosion, sorting, burial, and diagenesis. This approach integrates plastics into broader Earth systems, from their petrochemical origins to their long-term preservation in sedimentary archives. The Plasticene framework demands revision of facies models, sediment classification schemes, and chronostratigraphic tools. Our work guides methodological approaches for studying plastic-contaminated strata and clarifies the necessity of interdisciplinary convergence between sedimentology, environmental science, and anthropogenic stratigraphy. Understanding the Plasticene is key to decoding the geological legacy of synthetic materials in the Anthropocene and is an essential foundation for progressing what we know about the generation and persistence of microplastics, which have deleterious health effects and adversely impact global food webs at all trophic levels.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

A Geological Guide to Understand the Plasticene

Description

Session Format: Oral

Presentation Date: 10/21/2025

Presentation Start Time: 01:35 PM

Presentation Room: HGCC, 213AB

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