Scientists at the University o Glesga hae fund that human waste micht form rock in juist decades, cowpin ower oor age-auld view o the rock cycle. Researchers studied an industrial waste deposit alang the Cumbrian coast at Derwent Howe, aince hame tae iron an steel foondries. Ower its industrial past, 27 million cubic metre o furnace slag piled up alang the coast.

A close leuk at a twa-kilometre stretch o the slag deposit led the team tae merk a clear peth fae slag tae rock. The study discovered that whan the waste, rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, an manganese, meets sea watter an air, fast-actin chemical reactions bind the material thegither. Natural cements sic as calcite, goethite, an brucite then form, speedin up a process that naiture usually taks millions o years tae complete.

The paper, published in Geology, documents this new “rapid anthropoclastic rock cycle.” Dr Amanda Owen commented: “For a couple o hunner year, we hae unnerstuid the rock cycle as a naitural process that taks thoosands tae millions o years. Whit’s remairkable here is that we hae fund thir human-made materials bein incorporated intae naitural systems an becomin lithified – essentially turnin intae rock – ower the coorse o decades insteid.”

Lab tests yaisin electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction an Raman spectroscopy supported the team’s finnins. They pinpynted the rock formation timeframe by unkiverin a King George V siller piece fae 1934 an an aluminium can tab wi a design that “coudnae hae bin manufactured afore 1989” embedded in the slag. Dr John MacDonald explained, “We wur able tae date this process wi remairkable precision. We fund baith a King George V siller piece fae 1934 an an aluminium can tab… This gies us a maximum timeframe o 35 year for this rock formation, weel ithin the coorse o jist ae human lifetime.”

Dr David Brown added that the chemical ingredients in slag gie it the pouer tae turn intae rock on exposed coasts warldwide. He noted, “Steel slag waste is a global phenomenon, an whan alkaline mine wastes are exposed tae watter an air, there is potential for cementation o loose material.”

This research merks the first fully documented an dated example o this fast, human-driven rock cycle on land. The team warns that the swift an unforseen hardenin o industrial waste cuid ill-coastal life an upset hoo we care for an plan oor land. As waste turns swiftly tae stane, planners an environmental experts micht hae less time tae act.

Their wark noo sikks mair siller tae study similar sites ower Europe. The growin field o research brings new insicht intae hoo man-made materials micht permanently shape the future o the Yird.