Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere
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 effic...
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ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/645768 2024-02-11T09:58:35+01:00 Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere Chen, Qiqing Shi, Guitao Revell, Laura E. Zhang, Jun Zuo, Chencheng Wang, Danhe Le Ru, Eric C. Wu, Guangmei Mitrano, Denise id_orcid:0 000-0001-8030-6066 2023-11-30 application/application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/645768 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000645768 en eng Nature info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41467-023-43695-0 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/001112447600023 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SNF/Eccellenza/186856 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/645768 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000645768 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Nature Communications, 14 (1) info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2023 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/64576810.3929/ethz-b-00064576810.1038/s41467-023-43695-0 2024-01-15T00:51:59Z 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. ISSN:2041-1723 Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean ETH Zürich Research Collection Antarctic Southern Ocean |
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ETH Zürich Research Collection |
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language |
English |
description |
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. ISSN:2041-1723 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chen, Qiqing Shi, Guitao Revell, Laura E. Zhang, Jun Zuo, Chencheng Wang, Danhe Le Ru, Eric C. Wu, Guangmei Mitrano, Denise id_orcid:0 000-0001-8030-6066 |
spellingShingle |
Chen, Qiqing Shi, Guitao Revell, Laura E. Zhang, Jun Zuo, Chencheng Wang, Danhe Le Ru, Eric C. Wu, Guangmei Mitrano, Denise id_orcid:0 000-0001-8030-6066 Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere |
author_facet |
Chen, Qiqing Shi, Guitao Revell, Laura E. Zhang, Jun Zuo, Chencheng Wang, Danhe Le Ru, Eric C. Wu, Guangmei Mitrano, Denise id_orcid:0 000-0001-8030-6066 |
author_sort |
Chen, Qiqing |
title |
Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere |
title_short |
Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere |
title_full |
Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere |
title_fullStr |
Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere |
title_sort |
long-range atmospheric transport of microplastics across the southern hemisphere |
publisher |
Nature |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/645768 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000645768 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Nature Communications, 14 (1) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41467-023-43695-0 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/001112447600023 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SNF/Eccellenza/186856 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/645768 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000645768 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11850/64576810.3929/ethz-b-00064576810.1038/s41467-023-43695-0 |
_version_ |
1790594288027959296 |