C. Anela Choy

TL;DR: Examination of two abundant particle feeders in this ecosystem, pelagic red crabs and giant larvaceans, showed that microplastic particles readily flow from the environment into coupled water column and seafloor food webs, suggesting that one of the largest and currently underappreciated reservoirs of marine microplastics may be contained within theWater column and animal communities of the deep sea.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that the mercury isotope trends can be explained only if monomethylmercury is produced below the surface mixed layer, including in the underlying oxygen minimum zone, that is, between 50 and more than 400 m depth.

TL;DR: Results indicate that total mercury levels of predatory pelagic fishes and their prey increase with median depth of occurrence in the water column and mimic concentrations of dissolved organic mercury in seawater, suggesting that the mesopelagic habitat is a major entry point for mercury into marine food webs.

TL;DR: Giant larvaceans can contribute to the vertical flux of microplastics through the rapid sinking of fecal pellets and discarded houses, and may comprise a novel biological transport mechanism delivering microplastic particles from surface waters, through the water column, and to the seafloor.

TL;DR: The main mechanism driving 15N enrichment of suspended particles appears to be isotope fractionation associated with heterotrophic degradation, rather than a change in trophic status or N source with depth, and both changes in the d15N values of food resources at the base of the zooplankton food web and changes in zoopLankton TP drive observed zoop lankton 15N enriched with depth.