Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system
Microplastic pollution in the aquatic ecosystems has recently gained considerable attention from both the scientific community and the public. Plastic particles have been detected in practically all marine habitats from surface waters to deep sea benthos and all over the globe, including the Arctic...
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ftunivturku:oai:www.utupub.fi:10024/146198 2023-05-15T14:35:34+02:00 Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system Weckström, Markus Luonnontieteiden ja tekniikan tiedekunta, Faculty of Science and Engineering Ekologia, Ecology Biologian laitos, Department of Biology 2018-09-25 35 http://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/146198 eng eng http://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/146198 URN:NBN:fi-fe2018103146971 Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty., This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited. suljettu microplastics marine litter Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas Pro gradu -tutkielma, Master's thesis 2018 ftunivturku 2021-06-25T17:55:38Z Microplastic pollution in the aquatic ecosystems has recently gained considerable attention from both the scientific community and the public. Plastic particles have been detected in practically all marine habitats from surface waters to deep sea benthos and all over the globe, including the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. Local microplastic pollution is probably low in the Arctic due to extremely rare coastal human settlements, but long-range drift of microplastics discharged far away might be considered as an untrivial threat for the world’s northernmost marine ecosystems. Significant share of microplastics float on the surface water, and there is a net inward flux of surface waters into the Arctic Ocean due to the deep-water formation processes taking place in the region. Thus, there is a possibility which should be taken seriously that plastics originating from for instance Europe or the USA are constantly transported towards the Arctic Ocean. This study summarizes the main characteristics of the Arctic oceanography and reviews the current knowledge on microplastic distributions in the region. Combining the two aspects, a coherent framework for assessing the issue of microplastic pollution in the Arctic Ocean is provided, long-range drifting from the North Atlantic being an important part of it. Furthermore, a geographically very extensive set of microplastic samples was collected and analysed, ranging from the Baltic Sea to Svalbard and including different sections of the northward flowing current system. All samples contained plastics and characteristic shifts in microplastic compositions in offshore samples supported the idea of long range drifting. However, the dataset was small with respect to the issue in question and definitively more research and expeditions are needed. Other/Unknown Material Arctic Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas north atlantic current North Atlantic Svalbard University of Turku: UTUPub Arctic Arctic Ocean Svalbard |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Turku: UTUPub |
op_collection_id |
ftunivturku |
language |
English |
topic |
microplastics marine litter Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas |
spellingShingle |
microplastics marine litter Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas Weckström, Markus Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system |
topic_facet |
microplastics marine litter Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas |
description |
Microplastic pollution in the aquatic ecosystems has recently gained considerable attention from both the scientific community and the public. Plastic particles have been detected in practically all marine habitats from surface waters to deep sea benthos and all over the globe, including the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. Local microplastic pollution is probably low in the Arctic due to extremely rare coastal human settlements, but long-range drift of microplastics discharged far away might be considered as an untrivial threat for the world’s northernmost marine ecosystems. Significant share of microplastics float on the surface water, and there is a net inward flux of surface waters into the Arctic Ocean due to the deep-water formation processes taking place in the region. Thus, there is a possibility which should be taken seriously that plastics originating from for instance Europe or the USA are constantly transported towards the Arctic Ocean. This study summarizes the main characteristics of the Arctic oceanography and reviews the current knowledge on microplastic distributions in the region. Combining the two aspects, a coherent framework for assessing the issue of microplastic pollution in the Arctic Ocean is provided, long-range drifting from the North Atlantic being an important part of it. Furthermore, a geographically very extensive set of microplastic samples was collected and analysed, ranging from the Baltic Sea to Svalbard and including different sections of the northward flowing current system. All samples contained plastics and characteristic shifts in microplastic compositions in offshore samples supported the idea of long range drifting. However, the dataset was small with respect to the issue in question and definitively more research and expeditions are needed. |
author2 |
Luonnontieteiden ja tekniikan tiedekunta, Faculty of Science and Engineering Ekologia, Ecology Biologian laitos, Department of Biology |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Weckström, Markus |
author_facet |
Weckström, Markus |
author_sort |
Weckström, Markus |
title |
Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system |
title_short |
Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system |
title_full |
Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system |
title_fullStr |
Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system |
title_sort |
long-range drift of microplastics towards the arctic ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the north atlantic current system |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/146198 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas north atlantic current North Atlantic Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Nordic Seas north atlantic current North Atlantic Svalbard |
op_relation |
http://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/146198 URN:NBN:fi-fe2018103146971 |
op_rights |
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty., This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited. suljettu |
_version_ |
1766308369019174912 |