The Arctic Ocean as a dead end for floating plastics in the North Atlantic branch of the Thermohaline Circulation

• Published in: Science Advances
• Main Authors: Cózar, Andrés, Martí, Elisa, Duarte, Carlos M., García-de-Lomas, Juan, van Sebille, Erik, Ballatore, Thomas J., Eguíluz, V. M., González-Gordillo, J. Ignacio, Pedrotti, Maria L., Echevarría, Fidel, Troublè, Romain, Irigoien, Xabier
• Other Authors: Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division, Marine Science Program, Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus de Excelencia Internacional del Mar, E-11510 Puerto Real, Spain, Arctic Research Centre, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 8, DK-8000 Århus C, Denmark, Grantham Institute and Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, U.K, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CC Utrecht, Netherlands, Lake Basin Action Network, Moriyama 524-0063, Japan, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA, Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (CSIC-UIB), E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Universitè Paris 06, CNRS UMR 7076, Laboratoire d’oceanographie de Villefranche, Villefranque-sur-mer, France, Tara Expéditions, 75004 Paris, France, AZTI–Marine Research, Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g, 20110 Pasaia (Gipuzkoa), Spain, IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2017
• Subjects: Arctic waters; North Atlantic; floating plastic debris; thermohaline circulation; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Greenland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10754/623299; https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600582

The subtropical ocean gyres are recognized as great marine accummulation zones of floating plastic debris; however, the possibility of plastic accumulation at polar latitudes has been overlooked because of the lack of nearby pollution sources. In the present study, the Arctic Ocean was extensively sampled for floating plastic debris from the Tara Oceans circumpolar expedition. Although plastic debris was scarce or absent in most of the Arctic waters, it reached high concentrations (hundreds of thousands of pieces per square kilometer) in the northernmost and easternmost areas of the Greenland and Barents seas. The fragmentation and typology of the plastic suggested an abundant presence of aged debris that originated from distant sources. This hypothesis was corroborated by the relatively high ratios of marine surface plastic to local pollution sources. Surface circulation models and field data showed that the poleward branch of the Thermohaline Circulation transfers floating debris from the North Atlantic to the Greenland and Barents seas, which would be a dead end for this plastic conveyor belt. Given the limited surface transport of the plastic that accumulated here and the mechanisms acting for the downward transport, the seafloor beneath this Arctic sector is hypothesized as an important sink of plastic debris. Tara Oceans particularly acknowledges the commitment of the following sponsors: the CNRS (in particular Groupement de Recherche GDR3280), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Genoscope/CEA, French Government “Investissements d’Avenir” programs OCEANOMICS (ANR-11-BTBR-0008) and FRANCE GENOMIQUE (ANR-10-INBS-09-08), Agence Nationale de la Recherche, and European Union FP7 (Micro B3 no. 287589). We appreciate the support and commitment of agnès b. and E. Bourgois, Veolia Environment Foundation, Region Bretagne, Lorient Agglomeration, World Courier, Illumina, Eléctricité de France Foundation, Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversité, Prince Albert II de Monaco Foundation, Tara Foundation, ...