Microplastics may reduce the efficiency of the biological carbon pump by decreasing the settling velocity and carbon content of marine snow

Abstract

Plastics are pervasive in marine ecosystems including at the depths of our oceans. Microfibers, amongst other microscopic plastics, accumulate in deep sea sediments at concentrations up to four orders of magnitude higher than in surface waters. This is at odds with the fact that most microfibers are positively buoyant, and it is hypothesized that settling aggregates are vectors for downward transport of microfibers in the ocean. In laboratory incubations using roller tanks, we formed diatom aggregates with differing concentrations of microfibers and observed that microfiber addition stimulated aggregate formation, but decreased structural cohesion and caused them to break apart more readily, resulting in smaller average sizes. Incorporation of positively buoyant microfibers into settling aggregates reduced their size-specific sinking velocities proportional to the microfiber concentration. Slower sinking extends aggregate retention time in the upper ocean, thereby increasing the time available for organic matter remineralization in the upper water column. Here, we show that microfiber concentrations typical of those in the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean decrease potential export flux by 15-50%. Present day microfiber concentrations in surface waters may therefore be substantially reducing the efficiency of the biological carbon pump relative to the pre-plastic era.