The main rafting paths of European floating microplastics in the Mediterranean Arctic (Source: Author). Springer Nature Courtesy photo
BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A recent environmental research paper published in Science Reports, an open access academic journal owned by Springer Nature, argues that microplastics floating in European rivers accumulate in batches in the Arctic Ocean, the Nordic Sea and Baffin Bay.
Previous studies have reported high concentrations of microplastic particles throughout the Arctic Ocean, but it is unclear where they come from and where they accumulate.
Circulation and major microplastic river sources in the Arctic Mediterranean at large scale (Source: Author). Springer Nature Courtesy photo
Corresponding author Mats Huserbr?ten of the Norwegian Institute of Oceanography and colleagues combined ocean current models from 2007 to 2017 with simulations of floating microplastic movements. They simulated 21 major rivers passing through Northern Europe and the Arctic releasing microplastics daily for a decade, then modeled their movement over decades. The researchers then compared the modeling results with the distribution of floating microplastics in 121 seawater samples collected from 17 sites off the west coast of Norway between May 2017 and August 2018.
The authors found that most of the particles released by the simulated rivers followed two paths: 65 percent off the Norwegian coast toward the Laptev Sea (in northern Russia), then transported into the Arctic Ocean, past the North Pole, and then out of the Arctic Ocean via the Fram Strait in eastern Greenland; and 30 percent of the simulated particles moved along the Norwegian coast, then south through the Fram Strait, drifting along the eastern and southern coasts of Greenland, and then south along the northeast coast of Canada. After 20 years of simulation, the researchers identified clear areas of accumulation of floating microplastics in the Nordic Sea, the Southern Sen Basin of the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea, the Lapteve Sea (between the Arctic Ocean and northern Russia) and the Baffin Bay (between Greenland and Canada).
Estimated time for marine agglomerations and European floating microplastics to reach the Arctic Highlands (Source: Author). Springer Nature Courtesy photo
Analysis of seawater samples showed that the distribution of floating microplastics was consistent with the authors' predictions of simulated microplastics ten years after release and beyond in the Nordic Sea, Arctic Ocean and Fram Strait, suggesting that floating microplastics may have been flowing in the Arctic Ocean for at least a decade.
The authors argue that the flow of floating microplastics may have consequences for the health of Arctic ecosystems, and their findings highlight the importance of better management of plastic waste. (End)