The Rocks Beneath Your Feet Are Younger Than Your Parents and Made of Your Trash
created: June 19, 2025, 1 p.m. | updated: June 25, 2025, 12:59 p.m.
Researchers from the University of Glasgow found modern society’s detritus, including things like soda tabs, cemented inside a new form of rock.
Published in the journal Geology, the study reconsiders everything we know about the rock cycle and how humans affect it.
The recent study, however, found that the anthropoclastic rock cycle is forming rocks in just 35 years rather than hundreds.
The team explained in the release that the effects of anthropoclastic rock aren’t currently included in models of erosion and land management, which are crucial parts of combating climate change.
In the future, the researchers hope to study more deposits throughout Europe and further understand the rapid anthropoclastic rock cycle.
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