Date – 2307

Place – Tromsø, Norway

By 2200, plastic recycling and reuse industries in Tromsø were so extensive that waste products had effectively laid down a new layer in the geological record. Indeed, the Tromsian chron is considered by many as the first of the anthropocene epoch.

This conglomerate of igneous rock inseparably fused with remnants of a plastic rope reflects the proximity of the Håkon Mosby mud volcano lying around 300km North of Tromsø in the Barents Sea. The plastic which was encased by lava while cooling results in this rare rock hybrid.

In a somewhat desperate attempt to prevent further contamination of the food system, this naturally occurring phenomenon was seen to have potential as a model for a mechanism for clearing ocean plastics. Successful in the laboratory, a pilot site was established in the Solway Firth with the objective of clearing up the Irish Sea. 

The exhibit was gifted to the Solway plant by the people of Tromsø as a totem for success. 

Unfortunately, it became apparent very early on, that the method would require the generation and distribution of gigawatts of energy to offshore locations, many in extreme and unforgiving surroundings, to create the conditions where rock could be maintained in a molten state (magma).  

The experiment was quietly abandoned in 2242.

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