British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0ET, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; University of Exeter, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Streatham Campus, Stocker Rd, Exeter EX4 4PY, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
University of Exeter, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Streatham Campus, Stocker Rd, Exeter EX4 4PY, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Aug;193:115117. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115117. Epub 2023 Jun 16.
Estimated plastic debris floating at the ocean surface varies depending on modelling approaches, with some suggesting unaccounted sinks for marine plastic debris due to mismatches between plastic predicted to enter the ocean and that accounted for at the surface. A major knowledge gap relates to the vertical sinking of oceanic plastic. We used an array of floating sediment traps combined with optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy to measure the microplastic flux between 50 and 150 m water depth over 24 h within a natural harbour of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. This region is influenced by fishing, tourism, and research activity. We found a 69 % decrease in microplastic flux from 50 m (306 pieces/m/day) to 150 m (94pieces/m/day). Our study confirms the occurrence of a vertical flux of microplastic in the upper water column of the Southern Ocean, which may influence zooplankton microplastic consumption and the carbon cycle.
估算的漂浮在海洋表面的塑料碎片数量因建模方法而异，一些模型由于预测进入海洋的塑料与在海洋表面所记录到的塑料数量不匹配，认为存在海洋塑料碎片的未知汇。一个主要的知识空白与海洋塑料的垂直沉降有关。我们使用一系列漂浮沉积物陷阱，结合光学显微镜和拉曼光谱，在南乔治亚亚南极岛屿的一个天然海港内，测量了 24 小时内在 50 至 150 米水深之间的微塑料通量。该地区受到渔业、旅游业和研究活动的影响。我们发现，微塑料通量从 50 米（306 片/米/天）减少到 150 米（94 片/米/天），下降了 69%。我们的研究证实了南大洋上层水柱中存在微塑料的垂直通量，这可能会影响浮游动物对微塑料的消耗和碳循环。
