Plastics in the deep sea – a global estimate of the ocean floor reservoir

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The published version of this Preprint is available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104266. This is version 2 of this Preprint.

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Authors

Xia Zhu, Chelsea Rochman, Britta Denise Hardesty, Chris Wilcox

Abstract

The exponential increase in plastic production coupled with variable global waste management system efficiencies has resulted in large amounts of plastic waste entering the ocean every year. Although we know millions of tonnes of plastic have entered the oceans, we do not yet understand the patterns of its accumulation across space nor the drivers of these patterns. The deep ocean is expected to be a resting place, or reservoir, for plastic pollution. Here, we conducted a rigorous, systematic review of previously published datasets to synthesize our understanding of macroplastic pollution (> 5 mm) on the ocean floor. Using extracted data, we built predictive additive models to estimate the amount and distribution of plastic on the ocean floor. We built two models: one using data from remote operated vehicles (ROVs) and another using data from bottom trawls. Using the model built with ROV data, which was better-constrained, we estimate that 3 to 11 million metric tonnes (MMT) of plastic pollution resides on the ocean floor as of 2020. This is of similar magnitude to annual inputs from land and one to two orders of magnitude greater than what is predicted to be floating on the ocean surface. To improve future estimates and our understanding of global patterns, we provide recommendations for ocean floor monitoring of plastic pollution.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/X5HX0C

Subjects

Environmental Sciences, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

Keywords

Plastic pollution, marine debris, deep ocean, ocean floor, fate, transport, contaminants, cycling, global plastic cycle, environment, reservoirs

Dates

Published: 2023-07-21 23:20

Last Updated: 2024-03-14 08:34

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License

CC BY Attribution 4.0 International

Additional Metadata

Data Availability (Reason not available):
https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/MTELIM