Impact of returning scientific cruises and prolonged on-site presence on litter abundance at the deep-sea nodule fields in the Peru Basin.

Autor: Cuvelier D; Institute of Marine Sciences - Okeanos, University of the Azores, Horta, Portugal. Electronic address: daphne.v.cuvelier@uac.pt., Ramalho SP; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal., Purser A; Alfred Wegener Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany., Haeckel M; GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Marine pollution bulletin [Mar Pollut Bull] 2022 Nov; Vol. 184, pp. 114162. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 26.
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114162
Abstrakt: Marine litter can be found along coasts, continental shelves and slopes, down into the abyss. The absence of light, low temperatures and low energy regimes characterising the deeper habitats ensure the persistence of litter over time. Therefore, manmade items within the deep sea will likely accumulate to increasing quantities. Here we report the litter abundance encountered at the Pacific abyssal nodule fields from the Peru Basin at 4150 m depth. An average density of 2.67 litter items/ha was observed. Litter composed of plastic was the most abundant followed by metal and glass. At least 58 % of the items observed could be linked to the research expeditions conducted in the area and appeared to be mostly accidental disposals from ships. The data gathered was used to address temporal trends in litter abundance as well as the impact of human on-site presence and return cruises in the context of future deep-sea mining efforts.
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 Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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