200 Microplastics in the Environment

Microplastics are becoming increasingly ubiquitous on Earth. This session aims to address: sources and distribution of microplastics globally, characterization and quantification of microplastic hazards and impacts throughout the microplastic life cycle, and mitigation of microplastics-induced health effects

Tuesday, 21 October 2025
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, 213AB

A Geological Guide to Understand the Plasticene

Paper number: 200-1
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 1:35 PM – 1:50 PM

Authors

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 Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-412114

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