Microplastics in sub-surface waters of the Arctic Central Basin

Polar oceans, though remote in location, are not immune to the accumulation of plastic debris. The present study, investigated for the first time, the abundance, distribution and composition of microplastics in sub-surface waters of the Arctic Central Basin. Microplastic sampling was carried out usi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Pollution Bulletin
Main Authors: Kanhai, La Daana K., Gårdfeldt, Katarina, Lyashevska, Olga, Hassellöv, Martin, Thompson, Richard C., O'Connor, Ian
Language:unknown
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Water Engineering
Geochemistry
Oceanography
Hydrology
Water Resources
Sub-surface waters
Marine debris
Arctic Ocean
Pollution
Water column
Microplastic
Arctic
Central Basin
Pacific
oden
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.03.011
https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/501272
Description
Summary:Polar oceans, though remote in location, are not immune to the accumulation of plastic debris. The present study, investigated for the first time, the abundance, distribution and composition of microplastics in sub-surface waters of the Arctic Central Basin. Microplastic sampling was carried out using the bow water system of icebreaker Oden (single depth: 8.5 m) and CTD rosette sampler (multiple depths: 8–4369 m). Potential microplastics were isolated and analysed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). Bow water sampling revealed that the median microplastic abundance in near surface waters of the Polar Mixed Layer (PML) was 0.7 particles m −3 . Regarding the vertical distribution of microplastics in the ACB, microplastic abundance (particles m −3 ) in the different water masses was as follows: Polar Mixed Layer (0–375) > Deep and bottom waters (0–104) > Atlantic water (0–95) > Halocline i.e. Atlantic or Pacific (0–83).

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