More than 20 years since they went overboard in a storm, thousands of plastic ducks – part of a Chinese shipment of bath toys destined for the US – are still washing up on the world’s shores. Once yellow, now bleached white, the toys have become a boon for oceanographers who have been tracking them to learn more about ocean currents. Thousands are still expected to make it to shore intact; but many will have a much longer legacy.
Plastic is becoming part of the world’s geology. Researchers at the University of Western Ontario and the Algalita Marine Research Institute in California say they’ve discovered a completely new type of rock, formed when discarded plastic softens and combines with volcanic rock, sea shells, sand and corals.
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