How Geological Forces Generate Deep-Sea Microplastics

For many years scientists have stated with 100% certainty that microplastics, which range in size from 0.1 inches to 0.2 inches in diameter, present in our ocean waters and ocean floors are the result of human (anthropogenic) activities.

Here we show evidence that microplastics discovered in six deep ocean trenches (Jamieson 2019 ) were generated by emissions of methane gas, ethane gas, propane gas, and minerals from seabed volcanoes [pictured above], major fault zones, lava flows, and hydrothermal vents (Figure 1) and not anthropogenic activities.

It is hoped based on the conclusions of this article that scientists will investigate the role geological forces play in generating and emplacing microplastics in Earth’s oceans and ocean floors.

The following evidence supports this.

Geology of Deep Seabed Trenches

The vast majority of deep-sea floor trenches were created by the downward movement of major faults associated with the Pacific Ring of Fire (Figure 2).

This ring is extremely active and has generated and maintained an estimated 200,000 geological features, most of which emit massive amounts of CO2, natural gas, and numerous types of minerals.

The ring is 25,000 miles of interconnected major deep sea fault systems covering 50 million square miles of our ocean floors. It is home to 452 active or semi-active volcanoes, an amazing 75% of the world’s total.

It accounts for 90% of the earth’s earthquakes and 81% of the most powerful earthquakes. All but three of the world’s 25 largest volcanic eruptions of the last 11,700 years occurred along the Ring of Fire.

This shows that the six trenches investigated are extremely geologically active and fuel thousands of active geological features.

Insufficient Amount of Human Plastic Refuse

The area of the Earth’s oceans is 139,382,879 square miles. The area of human-generated plastic refuse floating on the ocean surface is estimated at 600,000 square miles. Therefore, human-generated plastic refuse covers 0.4% of the ocean’s surface.

The volume of water in the oceans is 10,907,411,982 cubic miles. The volume of human-generated plastic refuse is approximately 1,200,000 cubic miles. This equates to 0.1% of the ocean volume.

The weight of the water in our oceans is 1,450,000,000,000,000,000 tons. Estimates vary but most agree that there are 14,000,000 tons of plastics on our ocean surfaces. This equates to 0.1% of the ocean’s weight.

There is an insufficient amount of human-plastic refuse needed to generate enough microplastics to cover all of or even a small portion of the Earth’s seabeds.

Buoyancy

Microplastics range in size from 0.1 to 0.2 inches. Therefore, they are very buoyant especially when floating on the surface of salty sea water. Stating that these human-generated particles floating on the ocean can sink to the bottom of deep-sea trenches that range in depth from 25,000 to 36,000 feet deep is illogical.

Ocean Currents

In general, ocean currents can be divided into three layers: upper, middle, and lower. Typically, each of these layers moves in different lateral and vertical directions relative to each other. This acts to create horizontal barrier planes that inhibit the downward movement of small particles.

They also have different temperatures and chemical compositions which act to inhibit the sinking of small particles. I am certain that a significant amount of ocean-floor microplastics that are generated by deep ocean-floor geological forces are transported laterally and eventually settle across a wide area of our ocean floors.

Accumulation Rate of Ocean Floor Mud Layers

Researchers have discovered microplastics in ocean-floor mud layers. They state that this is proof that human-generated microplastics are polluting our oceans. There is a flaw in this reasoning.

Ocean-floor mud layers take thousands of years to accumulate. Therefore, microplastics present in ocean-floor mud layers are not the result of human plastic waste that began at the onset of the Industrial Revolution 143 years ago.

The Generation Processes of Man-Made Plastics and Geological Microplastics are Nearly Identical

The most important piece of evidence that proves microplastics are present in the deep ocean and are geologic in origin is that the generation process of human-made microplastics and geological microplastics are nearly identical.

Here is a comparison of the step-by-step process used for human-made plastics and geological microplastics.

Step 1
Human-Made Plastics: Purchase natural gas, which is a  mixture of methane gas, ethane gas, and propane gas.

Geological: Hydrothermal vents (Figure 1) emit natural gas and varying types of minerals.

Step 2
Human-Made Plastics: An extraction plant acts to isolate the ethane and propane Gases

Geological: The emission process acts to isolate the ethane and propane gases.

Step 3
Human-Made Plastics: A processing plant applies extremely high pressure and temperature to the ethane and propane gases.

Geological: The ethane and propane gases are exposed to extremely high pressure generated by the weight of 25,000–36,000 feet of overlying ocean seawater column present in deep ocean trenches. Gases, fluids, and minerals emitted from hydrothermal vents are of extreme temperature.

Step 4
Human-Made Plastics: This transforms the gases into ethylene and propylene substances.

Geological: This transforms the ethane and propane gases into ethylene and propylene substances.

Step 5
Human-Made Plastics: The ethylene and propylene substances are combined with different catalysts that transform them into plastic residue.

Geological: The ethylene and propylene substances are combined with varying types of minerals that transform them into microplastics.

Step 6
Human-Made Plastics: By adding different catalysts to the residue, it is converted to solid plastic.

Summary

We need to stop dumping human plastic refuse into our rivers and oceans. No question. However, an overwhelming amount of evidence proves that microplastics present in Earth’s deep-sea trenches are generated by emissions of methane gas, ethane gas, propane gas, extreme heat, extreme pressure, and chemicals from geologic features such as deep-sea geysers termed hydrothermal vents.

It is hoped that scientists who are trying to understand the origin of deep-sea microplastics will at least consider including the involvement of geological forces.

About the Author

James Edward Kamis is a retired Geologist, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Northern Illinois University (1973) and a Master of Science degree in Geology from Idaho State University (1976). More than 46 years of research have convinced him that geological forces significantly influence, or in some cases completely control climate and climate-related events as per his Plate Climatology Theory.

Plate Climatology Theory Book

The “Geological Impacts on Climate” book contains numerous examples, backed by over 46 years of integrating my observations and ideas with hundreds of research studies, significant amounts of data, and mountains of information from varying types of scientific disciplines that prove geologic forces affect climate and climate-related events.

Here are a few examples: subglacial volcanoes are melting Antarctic Glaciers, superheated emissions from deep-sea faults are generating El Ninos, and a series of super-volcanic eruptions caused the extinction of dinosaurs.