First evaluation of neustonic microplastics in the Macaronesian region, NE Atlantic

Herrera, Alicia; Raymond, Eugenio; Martínez, Ico; Álvarez, Soledad; Canning‐Clode, João; Gestoso, Ignácio; Pham, Christopher K.; Ríos, Noelia; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Gómez, May

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110999

Cited by 50 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Plastics have reached great proportions within the aquatic environments, estimated to be approximately 100 million tons within the ocean, positioning plastics pollution as one of the top environmental issues of the decade (Eriksen et al, 2014;Dauvergne, 2018;Herrera et al, 2020). Almost 90 % enter the sea from land-based sources (Lebreton et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global patterns for the spatial distribution of floating microfibers: Arctic Ocean as a potential accumulation zone

Lima¹,

Ferreira

Barrows

et al. 2021

Journal of Hazardous Materials

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Despite their representativeness, most studies to date have underestimated the amount of microfibers (MFs) in the marine environment. Therefore, further research is still necessary to identify key processes governing MF distribution. Here, the interaction among surface water temperature, salinity, currents and winds explained the patterns of MF accumulation. The estimated density of floating MFs is ~5900 ± 6800 items m − 3 in the global ocean; and three patterns of accumulation were predicted by the proposed model: (i) intermediate densities in ocean gyres, Seas of Japan and of Okhotsk, Mediterranean and around the Antarctic Ocean; (ii) high densities in the Arctic Ocean; and (iii) point zones of highest densities inside the Arctic Seas. Coastal areas and upwelling systems have low accumulation potential. At the same time, zones of divergences between westerlies and trade winds, located above the tropical oceanic gyres, are predicted to accumulate MFs. In addition, it is likely that the warm branch of the thermohaline circulation has an important role in the transport of MFs towards the Arctic Ocean, emphasizing that surface water masses are important predictors. This study highlights that the Arctic Ocean is a dead end for floating MFs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global patterns for the spatial distribution of floating microfibers: Arctic Ocean as a potential accumulation zone

Lima¹,

Ferreira

Barrows

et al. 2021

Journal of Hazardous Materials

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“…Low windage coefficients are used in particles with low buoyancy and limited surface area exposed to the wind, whereas high windage coefficients are used for highly buoyant particles with large exposed surface area (Chubarenko et al, 2016). Considering the variety of marine plastic litter densities and shapes found in the Macaronesia region (e.g., Ríos et al, 2018;Fernandes, 2019;Herrera et al, 2020;Pham et al, 2020), our model particles were divided into five groups with random windage coefficients ranging from 0 to 1%, 1 to 2%, 2 to 3%, 3 to 4%, and 4 to 5% of the wind at 10 m height. This means that all grid cells arranged around the islands contributed with the release of five particles every 3 days, except when particles were initiated on land (Figure 2).…”

Section: Particle Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the Exposure of the Macaronesia Islands (NE Atlantic) to Marine Plastic Pollution

Cardoso

Caldeira

2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The constant increase of marine plastic pollution poses an unprecedented risk to oceanic islands, which become increasingly exposed to a hazard of which they have very little control. Located in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Macaronesia is comprised by the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, and Cabo Verde. Although past studies suggest that most plastic items collected on these islands are from offshore regions, their actual sources remain unclear to present date. As such, we focus on the characterization of the potential sources and pathways of plastic particles reaching the Macaronesia archipelagos. This is achieved by combining modeled datasets for ocean currents, winds and waves with a Lagrangian tool used to track virtual particles released around the archipelagos for a 10-year period, making a distinction between surface and submerged particles. Global drifter trajectories are also assessed, selecting those that intercept the archipelagos. Our results demonstrate that the North Atlantic subtropical gyre is the most conspicuous feature in particles and drifter trajectories. The Gulf Stream acts as the main pathway for all archipelagos at a regional scale, though with less significance to Cabo Verde. Surface particles are connected to regional sources in a shorter timescale than mixed particles, mainly because of the wind. Intercepting high-windage particle trajectories are dominant at the center of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, demonstrating that particles originating from the North Atlantic “garbage patch” are most likely to intercept the archipelagos if considerably exposed to the wind. Regarding the connectivity to sources, all archipelagos are significantly exposed to areas of intensive fishing activity, mainly those located in the Gulf Stream (Azores), in international waters off the Portuguese coast (Madeira and Canary Islands) and along the Northwestern African coast (Cabo Verde). The east coasts of Central and North America are the main sources of land-based particles reaching the Azores, Madeira, and Canary Islands, whereas the Northwestern African coast is the main source for land-based particles reaching Cabo Verde. Our results demonstrate how vulnerable the Macaronesian archipelagos are to marine plastic pollution, highlighting the urgency for international cooperation to mitigate the exposure of oceanic islands to marine plastic pollution.

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“…Comparison of different types of nets used, MP colour categories and units used to report the data; FTIR analysis; and if zooplankton abundance and MP/zooplankton ratio was reported. Adapted from (Herrera et al 2020) distributed along the high tide line, along the low tide line and/or in between. This aspect must be taken into consideration when comparing results.…”

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro and Nano-Plastics in the Environment: Research Priorities for the Near Future

Vighi

Bayo

Fernández-Piñas

et al. 2021

Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

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First evaluation of neustonic microplastics in the Macaronesian region, NE Atlantic

Cited by 50 publications

References 68 publications

Global patterns for the spatial distribution of floating microfibers: Arctic Ocean as a potential accumulation zone

Global patterns for the spatial distribution of floating microfibers: Arctic Ocean as a potential accumulation zone

Modeling the Exposure of the Macaronesia Islands (NE Atlantic) to Marine Plastic Pollution

Micro and Nano-Plastics in the Environment: Research Priorities for the Near Future

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