Stranded pellets in Fildes Peninsula (King George Island, Antarctica): New evidence of Southern Ocean connectivity.

Autor: Lozoya JP; Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República (UDELAR), Cachimba del Rey entre Bvar. Artigas y Av. Aparicio Saravia, 20000 Maldonado, Uruguay. Electronic address: jlozoya@cure.edu.uy., Rodríguez M; Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República (UDELAR), Ruta nacional N°9 intersección con ruta N°15, Rocha, Uruguay. Electronic address: mrodriguez@cure.edu.uy., Azcune G; Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República (UDELAR), Ruta nacional N°9 intersección con ruta N°15, Rocha, Uruguay. Electronic address: gazcune@cure.edu.uy., Lacerot G; Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República (UDELAR), Cachimba del Rey entre Bvar. Artigas y Av. Aparicio Saravia, 20000 Maldonado, Uruguay. Electronic address: glacerot@cure.edu.uy., Pérez-Parada A; Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República (UDELAR), Ruta nacional N°9 intersección con ruta N°15, Rocha, Uruguay. Electronic address: aperez@cure.edu.uy., Lenzi J; Centro de Investigación y Conservación Marina (CICMAR), Uruguay., Rossi F; Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República (UDELAR), Cachimba del Rey entre Bvar. Artigas y Av. Aparicio Saravia, 20000 Maldonado, Uruguay., de Mello FT; Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República (UDELAR), Cachimba del Rey entre Bvar. Artigas y Av. Aparicio Saravia, 20000 Maldonado, Uruguay. Electronic address: frantei@cure.edu.uy.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2022 Sep 10; Vol. 838 (Pt 1), pp. 155830. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 May 10.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155830
Abstrakt: Plastic and microplastic debris is transported by ocean currents over long distances, reaching remote areas, far from its original source. In Polar Regions, microplastics (MPs) can come from local activities or be transported from lower latitudes, with the former being the likely and major source. Although historically Antarctica was considered isolated from the global ocean, there is recent evidence of materials and organisms being transported in and out of the Southern Ocean, despite its multi-front structure. During the austral summer of 2019, beach surveys were conducted on the NW coast of the Fildes Peninsula (King George Island). The beach was characterised, and the first 2 cm of sediment from 5 quadrants (50 × 50 cm) along 100 m of the highest strandline were collected. Large microplastics (LMPs) and mesoplastics (MesoPs) were isolated, counted, measured, weighed and classified by shape. Polymer composition was analysed by FTIR and ageing estimated by Carbonyl Index. We found 293 items of LMPs (188 items) and MesoPs (105 items), with a total average density (±SD) of 234.4 ± 166 items m -2 . Foams (130.4 ± 76.3), fragments (58.4 ± 56.0) and pellets (44.0 ± 50.5) were the most abundant shapes. The main polymers found were polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyethylene. We found pellets among the MesoPs, being the first record for beaches in Antarctica. The presence of these primary MPs south of 62°S not only alerts about their possible direct consequences on Antarctic ecosystems, but also gives empirical evidence for the passive entry of plastic debris from lower latitudes through cross-frontal exchanges, providing new evidence of a global connectivity of the Southern Ocean. Despite increasing research, knowledge of plastics dynamics and their impact in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica is still limited but certainly necessary.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: