n this eye-opening and visually rich video, we dive deep into one of the most fascinating geological phenomena of our time: the creation of brand-new rocks forged not by nature, but by humans. For billions of years, rocks have formed through natural processes—volcanic eruptions, sedimentation, and tectonic pressure. But now, in the Anthropocene era, human activity has begun to produce entirely new types of rock at an unprecedented pace. This video explores how waste products from industry, urbanization, and plastic pollution are merging with natural materials to form a new class of rocks—some developing in mere decades rather than millennia.

We begin with the remarkable story of slag-based formations in Derwent Howe, a coastal site in the United Kingdom where steelmaking waste has transformed into solid rock in less than 40 years. Geologists have identified this phenomenon as a form of “anthropoclastic” lithification, where minerals like calcium, silica, and iron within industrial slag react with seawater and rain to rapidly cement into a new stone. This is not theoretical—cliffs made of this hardened slag are already shaping the landscape, altering erosion patterns, and even preserving human artifacts like coins and soda tabs within the rock itself.

From there, we travel to the remote shores of Kamilo Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii, one of the most plastic-polluted beaches in the world. Here, you’ll learn how campfires, ocean heat, and UV exposure are melting synthetic waste like fishing nets and packaging, fusing them with sand, coral, and volcanic rock to form plastiglomerates. These strange, multicolored fusion rocks are being studied as future geologic markers of our time—literally embedding our garbage into the planet’s crust. Incredibly, similar formations are now being found on beaches around the globe, including Brazil’s Trindade Island and other remote coastal areas.

Throughout the video, we explore how these new human-made rocks fit into the broader concept of the Anthropocene—a proposed new epoch in Earth’s history defined by human influence on the planet. From radioactive fallout layers and microplastic-infused sediments to technofossils like aluminum cans, rubber particles, and electronic waste, the geological footprint of humanity is becoming increasingly clear. Scientists are actively studying these emerging rock types as potential “golden spikes”—key markers that future geologists might use to define this epoch in the rock record.

Link to studies:
Evidence for a rapid anthropoclastic rock cycle: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/…

An anthropogenic marker horizon in the future rock record:
https://rock.geosociety.org/net/gsato…

Thank you so much for watching!

[…]