Global patterns for the spatial distribution of floating microfibers: Arctic Ocean as a potential accumulation zone

Despite their representativeness, most studies to date have underestimated the amount of microfibers (MFs) in the marine environment. Therefore, further research is still necessary to identify key processes governing MF distribution. Here, the interaction among surface water temperature, salinity, c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Hazardous Materials
Main Authors: Lima, André R.A., Ferreira, Guilherme V.B., Barrows, Abigail P.W., Christiansen, Katie S., Treinish, Gregg, Toshack, Michelle C.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020
Subjects:
Synthetic fibers
Hazardous waste
Global microplastic distribution
Generalized additive models
Spatial modelling
Antarctic
Antarctic Ocean
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Okhotsk
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/7823
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123796
Description
Summary:Despite their representativeness, most studies to date have underestimated the amount of microfibers (MFs) in the marine environment. Therefore, further research is still necessary to identify key processes governing MF distribution. Here, the interaction among surface water temperature, salinity, currents and winds explained the patterns of MF accumulation. The estimated density of floating MFs is ~5900 ± 6800 items m???? 3 in the global ocean; and three patterns of accumulation were predicted by the proposed model: (i) intermediate densities in ocean gyres, Seas of Japan and of Okhotsk, Mediterranean and around the Antarctic Ocean; (ii) high densities in the Arctic Ocean; and (iii) point zones of highest densities inside the Arctic Seas. Coastal areas and upwelling systems have low accumulation potential. At the same time, zones of divergences between westerlies and trade winds, located above the tropical oceanic gyres, are predicted to accumulate MFs. In addition, it is likely that the warm branch of the thermohaline circulation has an important role in the transport of MFs towards the Arctic Ocean, emphasizing that surface water masses are important predictors. This study highlights that the Arctic Ocean is a dead end for floating MFs. FEDER; Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia- FCT info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

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