Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere

Abstract Airborne microplastics (MPs) can undergo long range transport to remote regions. Yet there is a large knowledge gap regarding the occurrence and burden of MPs in the marine boundary layer, which hampers comprehensive modelling of their global atmospheric transport. In particular, the transp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Qiqing Chen, Guitao Shi, Laura E. Revell, Jun Zhang, Chencheng Zuo, Danhe Wang, Eric C. Le Ru, Guangmei Wu, Denise M. Mitrano
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2023
Subjects:
Science
Q
Antarctic
Southern Ocean
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43695-0
https://doaj.org/article/1c87832b59714dc590d58f8f38ef9baa
Description
Summary:Abstract Airborne microplastics (MPs) can undergo long range transport to remote regions. Yet there is a large knowledge gap regarding the occurrence and burden of MPs in the marine boundary layer, which hampers comprehensive modelling of their global atmospheric transport. In particular, the transport efficiency of MPs with different sizes and morphologies remains uncertain. Here we show a hemispheric-scale analysis of airborne MPs along a cruise path from the mid-Northern Hemisphere to Antarctica. We present the inaugural measurements of MPs concentrations over the Southern Ocean and interior Antarctica and find that MPs fibers are transported more efficiently than MPs fragments along the transect, with the transport dynamics of MPs generally similar to those of non-plastic particles. Morphology is found to be the dominant factor influencing the hemispheric transport of MPs to remote Antarctic regions. This study underlines the importance of long-range atmospheric transport in MPs cycling dynamics in the environment.

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