Seafloor microplastic hotspots controlled by deep-sea circulation

Kane, Ian A.; Clare, Michael; Miramontes, Elda; Wogelius, Roy; Rothwell, James; Garreau, Pierre; Pohl, Florian

doi:10.1126/science.aba5899

Cited by 523 publications

(333 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…While low compared to coastal sediment studies in Australia, the MP counts from our study are high compared to other deepsea sediment analyses globally (Table 4). Four other studies of MPs in deep-sea sediment reported MP counts similar to ours including samples from the Arctic (Bergmann et al, 2017), the Mediterranean (Woodall et al, 2014;Kane et al, 2020), the North Atlantic (Woodall et al, 2014), and the Western Pacific (Zhang et al, 2020;Table 4). Even in these instances, however, the MP counts we observed were more than double those reported in other studies, in spite of our careful measures to exclude contamination and not including fibers.…”

Section: Microplastic Fragments In Deep-sea Sedimentssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…The high variance at a core level points to the high heterogeneity of MP deposition on the seabed and the likely influence of oceanographic conditions at a very fine scale. The small size and variable density of MPs suggest these small particles are easily transported via ocean currents (Lusher, 2015;Kane et al, 2020), climate and weather changes (Welden and Lusher, 2017), fish and animal behavior (Davidson, 2012;Cózar et al, 2014), biofouling (Ye and Andrady, 1991;Fazey and Ryan, 2016), and buoyant rise velocity (Reisser et al, 2013).…”

Section: Variability In Microplasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microplastic Pollution in Deep-Sea Sediments From the Great Australian Bight

Barrett¹,

Chase²,

Zhang³

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

183

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Interest in understanding the extent of plastic and specifically microplastic pollution has increased on a global scale. However, we still know relatively little about how much plastic pollution has found its way into the deeper areas of the world's oceans. The extent of microplastic pollution in deep-sea sediments remains poorly quantified, but this knowledge is imperative for predicting the distribution and potential impacts of global plastic pollution. To address this knowledge gap, we quantified microplastics in deepsea sediments from the Great Australian Bight using an adapted density separation and dye fluorescence technique. We analyzed sediment cores from six locations (1-6 cores each, n = 16 total samples) ranging in depth from 1,655 to 3,062 m and offshore distances ranging from 288 to 356 km from the Australian coastline. Microplastic counts ranged from 0 to 13.6 fragments per g dry sediment (mean 1.26 ± 0.68; n = 51). We found substantially higher microplastic counts than recorded in other analyses of deepsea sediments. Overall, the number of microplastic fragments in the sediment increased as surface plastic counts increased, and as the seafloor slope angle increased. However, microplastic counts were highly variable, with heterogeneity between sediment cores from the same location greater than the variation across sampling sites. Based on our empirical data, we conservatively estimate 14 million tonnes of microplastic reside on the ocean floor.

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Section: Microplastic Fragments In Deep-sea Sedimentssupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Variability In Microplasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic Pollution in Deep-Sea Sediments From the Great Australian Bight

Barrett¹,

Chase²,

Zhang³

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

183

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“…This might be the reason why submarine canyons have been reported to be hotspots for MaP and microplastic [105]. Additionally, near-bed thermohaline-driven currents influence the accumulation of plastic items on the seafloor [106].…”

Section: Transport In Aquatic Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Way of Macroplastic through the Environment

et al. 2020

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With the focus on microplastic in current research, macroplastic is often not further considered. Thus, this review paper is the first to analyse the entry paths, accumulation zones, and sinks of macroplastic in the aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environment by presenting transport paths and concentrations in the environment as well as related risks. This is done by applying the Source–Pathway–Receptor model on macroplastic in the environment. Based on this model, the life cycle of macroplastic is structurally described, and knowledge gaps are identified. Hence, current research aspects on macroplastic as well as a sound delimitation between macro- and microplastic that can be applied to future research are indicated. The results can be used as basic information for further research and show a qualitative assessment of the impact of macroplastic that ends up in the environment and accumulates there. Furthermore, the applied model allows for the first time a quantitative and structured approach to macroplastic in the environment.

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“…In addition, it is acknowledged that to track the distribution of microplastics is difficult due to the disagreement between buoyancy capacity and the sinking nature of most particles (Hardesty et al, 2017;Cózar et al, 2017). Therefore, to couple predictions from different water masses and sediments along the entire ocean basin will be the only way to understand how floating MPs sink towards sediments and then come back to surface following major oceanic dynamics (Mountford and Morales Maqueda, 2019;Kane et al, 2020).…”

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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Seafloor microplastic hotspots controlled by deep-sea circulation

Cited by 523 publications

References 71 publications

Microplastic Pollution in Deep-Sea Sediments From the Great Australian Bight

Microplastic Pollution in Deep-Sea Sediments From the Great Australian Bight

The Way of Macroplastic through the Environment

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

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