Plastic debris in the open ocean
Andrés Cózar,Fidel Echevarría,J. Ignacio González-Gordillo,Xabier Irigoien,Bárbara Úbeda,Santiago Hernández-León,Alvaro T. Palma,Sandra Navarro,Juan García-de-Lomas,Andrea Ruiz,María L. Fernández-de-Puelles,Carlos M. Duarte +11 more
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TLDR
Using data from the Malaspina 2010 circumnavigation, regional surveys, and previously published reports, this work shows a worldwide distribution of plastic on the surface of the open ocean, mostly accumulating in the convergence zones of each of the five subtropical gyres with comparable density.Abstract:
There is a rising concern regarding the accumulation of floating plastic debris in the open ocean. However, the magnitude and the fate of this pollution are still open questions. Using data from the Malaspina 2010 circumnavigation, regional surveys, and previously published reports, we show a worldwide distribution of plastic on the surface of the open ocean, mostly accumulating in the convergence zones of each of the five subtropical gyres with comparable density. However, the global load of plastic on the open ocean surface was estimated to be on the order of tens of thousands of tons, far less than expected. Our observations of the size distribution of floating plastic debris point at important size-selective sinks removing millimeter-sized fragments of floating plastic on a large scale. This sink may involve a combination of fast nano-fragmentation of the microplastic into particles of microns or smaller, their transference to the ocean interior by food webs and ballasting processes, and processes yet to be discovered. Resolving the fate of the missing plastic debris is of fundamental importance to determine the nature and significance of the impacts of plastic pollution in the ocean.read more
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Longitudinal dispersion of microplastics in aquatic flows using fluorometric techniques.
Sarah Cook,Hui-Ling Chan,Soroush Abolfathi,Gary D. Bending,Hendrik Schäfer,Jonathan M. Pearson +5 more
TL;DR: Neutrally buoyant microplastics behaved in the same manner as a solute (Rhodamine) and more importantly displayed classical fundamental dispersion theory in uniform open channel flow, suggesting Rhodamine, a fluorescent tracer, can be released into the natural environment with the potential to mimic microplastic movement in the water column.
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Large impact of Stokes drift on the fate of surface floating debris in the South Indian Basin.
Delphine Dobler,Thierry Huck,Christophe Maes,Nicolas Grima,Bruno Blanke,Elodie Martinez,Fabrice Ardhuin +6 more
TL;DR: Taking into account surface Stokes drift from a wave model reanalysis radically changes the fate of South Indian particles and changes the South Indian sensitive balance between Ekman convergence and turbulent diffusion processes.
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First record of plastic debris in the stomach of Mediterranean lanternfishes
TL;DR: The presence of plastic debris in the stomachs of Mediterranean lanternfishes (Myctophidae): Electrona risso, Diaphus metopoclampus, Hygophum benoiti and Myctophum punctatum is highlighted for the first time.
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Microplastics levels, size, morphology and composition in marine water, sediments and sand beaches. Case study of Tarragona coast (western Mediterranean)
TL;DR: In this article, the authors quantify and characterize in size, morphology and composition the microplastics present in sandy beaches, marine sediments, and surface seawaters of Tarragona coastal region.
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Automatic detection and quantification of floating marine macro-litter in aerial images: Introducing a novel deep learning approach connected to a web application in R.
Odei Garcia-Garin,Toni Monleón-Getino,Pere López-Brosa,Asunción Borrell,Alex Aguilar,Ricardo Borja-Robalino,Luis Cardona,Morgana Vighi +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed algorithms capable of detecting and quantifying floating marine macro-litter (FMML) in aerial images, and a web-oriented application that allows users to identify FMML within images of the sea surface.
References
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