Marine debris
editTypes of debris
editDeep-sea debris
editLitter, made from diverse materials that are denser than surface water (such as glasses, metals and some plastics), have been found to spread over the floor of seas and open oceans, where it can become entangled in corals and interfere with other sea-floor life, or even become buried under sediment, making clean-up extremely difficult, especially due to the wide area of its dispersal compared to shipwrecks.[1]
Microplastic pollution
editThe extent of microplastic pollution in the deep sea has yet to be fully determined, and as a result scientists are currently examining organisms and studying sediments to better understand this issue.[2][3] A 2013 study surveyed four separate locations to represent a wider range of marine habitats at depths varying from 1100-5000m. Three of the four locations had identifiable amounts of microplastics present in the top 1cm layer of sediment. Core samples were taken from each spot and had their microplastics filtered out of the normal sediment. The plastic components were identified using micro-Raman spectroscopy; the results showed man-made pigments commonly used in the plastic industry.[4] In 2016, researchers used an ROV to collect nine deep-sea organisms and core-top sediments.[5] The nine deep-sea organisms were dissected and various organs were examined by the researchers on shore to identify microplastics with a microscope.[5] The scientists found that six out of the nine organisms examined contain microplastics which where all microfibers, specifically located in the GI tract.[5] Research performed by MBARI in 2013 off the west coast of North America and around Hawaii found that out of all the debris observed from 22 years of VARS database video footage, one-third of the items was plastic bags.[6] This debris was most common below 2000 m depth.[6] A recent study that collected organisms and sediments in the Abyssopelagic Zone of the Western Pacific Ocean extracted materials from samples and discovered that poly(propylene-ethylene) copolymer (40.0%) and polyethylene terephthalate (27.5%) were the most commonly detected polymers.[2]
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- ^ "Benthic marine debris in the Bay of Fundy, eastern Canada: Spatial distribution and categorization using seafloor video footage". Marine Pollution Bulletin. 150: 110722. 2020-01-01. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110722. ISSN 0025-326X.
- ^ a b Zhang, Dongdong; Liu, Xidan; Huang, Wei; Li, Jingjing; Wang, Chunsheng; Zhang, Dongsheng; Zhang, Chunfang (10 January 2020). "Microplastic pollution in deep-sea sediments and organisms of the Western Pacific Ocean". Environmental Pollution. 259: 113948. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.113948.
- ^ Courtene-Jones, Winnie; Quinn, Brian; Gary, Stefan F.; Mogg, Andrew O.M.; Narayanaswamy, Bhavani E. (12 August 2017). "Microplastic pollution identified in deep-sea water and ingested by benthic invertebrates in the Rockall Trough, North Atlantic Ocean". Environmental Pollution. 231: 271–280. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2017.08.026.
- ^ Van Cauwenberghe, Lisbeth; Vanreusel, Ann; Mees, Jan; Janssen, Colin R. (2013-11-01). "Microplastic pollution in deep-sea sediments". Environmental Pollution. 182: 495–499. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2013.08.013. ISSN 0269-7491.
- ^ a b c Taylor, M. L.; Gwinnett, C.; Robinson, L. F.; Woodall, L. C. (30 September 2016). "Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 33997. doi:10.1038/srep33997. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5043174. PMID 27687574.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) - ^ a b "News archive - 2013". MBARI. 2015-12-29. Retrieved 2020-10-24.