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
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
Citations
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Concentration, anisotropic and apparent colour effects on optical reflectance properties of virgin and ocean-harvested plastics
Shungudzemwoyo P. Garaba,Manuel Arias,Paolo Corradi,Tristan Harmel,Robin de Vries,Laurent Lebreton +5 more
TL;DR: The measurements collected in this study are an extension to available high quality spectral reference libraries and can support further research in developing remote sensing algorithms for marine litter.
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Inter-annual variation in the density of anthropogenic debris in the Tasman Sea.
Osha-Ann Rudduck,Jennifer L. Lavers,Andrew M. Fischer,Silke Stuckenbrock,Paul B. Sharp,Richard B. Banati +5 more
TL;DR: Substantial inter-annual variation in mean plastic abundance was observed over the three year period, confirming the need for multiple years of sampling to fully estimate the extent of, and trends in, plastic pollution.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microplastic intake and enzymatic responses in Mytilus galloprovincialis reared at the vicinities of an aquaculture station
Xavier Capó,M. Rubio,Antònia Solomando,C. Alomar,Montserrat Compa,Antoni Sureda,Salud Deudero +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of microplastics derived from aquaculture in antioxidant defences and oxidative stress markers in gills of Mytilus galloprovincialis were evaluated.
Journal ArticleDOI
Modelling the spatial and seasonal distribution, fate and transport of floating plastics in tropical coastal waters.
Xuneng Tong,Mui-Choo Jong,Jingjie Zhang,Jingjie Zhang,Jingjie Zhang,Luhua You,Karina Yew-Hoong Gin +6 more
TL;DR: The established model can provide new insights into the spatiotemporal distribution and fate of plastic waste in the tropical coastal waters, which is useful to assist regulators in making policy decisions in response to the future climate change and plastic usage.
Journal ArticleDOI
Distribution and transport of microplastics in the upper 1150 m of the water column at the Eastern North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, Canary Islands, Spain.
Daura Vega-Moreno,Bárbara Abaroa-Pérez,Paula Domínguez Rein-Loring,Carmen Presas-Navarro,Eugenio Fraile-Nuez,Francisco Machín +5 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors carried out an equivalent analysis along the water column for the Atlantic Ocean and revealed the presence of microplastics at least up to 1150 m depth, at the Northeastern Atlantic Subtropical Gyre with noticeable seasonal differences.
References
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