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Microplastics in the final ocean frontier
Courtene-Jones, Winnie; Quinn, Brian; Gary, Stefan; E. Narayanaswamy, Bhavani
Published: 25/05/2016
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Citation for published version (APA):Courtene-Jones, W., Quinn, B., Gary, S., & E. Narayanaswamy, B. (2016). Microplastics in the final oceanfrontier. Poster session presented at MICRO 2016, Arrecife, Lanzarote, Spain.
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Download date: 06 Jul 2020
Microplastics In The Final Ocean Frontier
W. Courtene-Jones1, B. Quinn2, S. Gary1, B. Narayanaswamy1 1. SAMS, Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, Scotland, UK
2. University of West Scotland, Paisley, UK
[email protected] - @WinnieCJ
References Eriksen, M. Lebreton, L.C.M. Carson, H.S. Thiel, M. Moore, C.J. Borerro, J.C. Galgani, F. Ryan, P.G. Reisser, J. (2014) Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans: more than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea, PLoS one. 9:e111913
Gage, J.D. & Tyler, P.A. (1991) Deep-sea biology: a natural history of organisms at the deep-sea floor, Cambridge University Press
Schlining, K. von Thun, S. Kuhnz, L. Schlining, B. Lundsten, L. Stout, N.J. Chaney, L. Connor, J. (2013) Debris in the deep: Using a 22-year video annotation database to survey marine litter in Monterey Canyon, central California, USA. Deep-Sea Res PT I. 79, pp.96–105.
Thurber, A.R. Sweetman, A.K. Narayanaswamy, B.E. Jones, D.O.B. Ingels, J. Hansman, R.L. (2014) Ecosystem function and services provided by the deep sea. Biogeosciences. 11, pp.3941–3963.
Woodall, L.C. Sanchez-Vidal, A. Canals, M. Paterson, G.L.J. Coppock, R. Sleight, V. Calafat, A. Rogers, A.D. Narayanaswamy, B.E. Thompson, R.C. (2014) The deep sea is a major sink for microplastic debris, R. Soc open sci. 1:140317
Introduction
The deep-sea is classified as the portion of the ocean
deeper than 200m off the continental slope (Gage & Tyler, 1991).
This are covers over half of the Earth’s surface and supports
an incredibly rich diversity of species (Thurber et al. 2014). This
remote region has largely remained out of sight out of mind,
however the deep-sea is vulnerable to a number of
anthropogenic impacts. Macroplastics are recorded
extensively in the deep-sea (e.g. Schlining et al. 2013). Concern is
mounting regarding microplastics as these small persistent
plastics represent one of the greatest threats to ecosystem
functioning and services.
Worldwide distribution of microplastics is patchy and
current estimates suggest lower quantities in surface waters
than expected (Eriksen et al. 2014). Microplastics have been
reported in deep-sea sediments (Woodall et al. 2014), hypothesising
the deep-sea may be a sink for this pollutant. The ultimate
fate of marine microplastics is not well understood; while
numerous species are reported to ingest microplastics,
currently no studies have considered whether the deep-sea
benthic community is also susceptible.
Long-term monitoring site in Rockall Trough. Location forms a monitoring point on the Ellett line survey
http://projects.noc.ac.uk/ExtendedEllettLine/project-information
Lamont/SAMS Gage/SAMS
Pictures Gage/SAMS
Aims
My study presents first of its kind research,
focussing on a long-term time series of deep-
sea fauna collected from the Rockall Trough
dating back to the mid-1970s. I aim to address
the following questions:
• Are deep-sea benthic fauna ingesting
microplastics?
• Can we detect when microplastics
arrived in the deep-sea?
• What is the timescale and potential
vertical transport routes of
microplastics to the deep-sea?
Method
• Rapid and efficient enzymatic digestion of deep-sea
benthic macrofauna
– Focus on echinoderms displaying a range of feeding
strategies
• Identification & quantification of ingested microplastics
– Visual & ATR-FTIR spectrometry
– Characterise microplastics
– Do quantities vary with feeding mechanism?
• Examining historical specimens: Are there decadal
trends in ingested microplastics quantities ?
• Modelling distribution & vertical transport routes of
microplastics to Rockall Trough
Deep-sea benthic fauna from the Rockall Trough, ~2200m deep
Example of the diversity of deep-sea benthic macrofauna
obtained from one trawl from the Rockall Trough, ~2200m
deep
Epibenthic sled with net trailing behind on
deck of research vessel, used to collect deep-
sea fauna samples
Bivalve Ophiuroid
Holothurians Ophiuroid
Ophiuroid