Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Turra, Alexander
• Manzano, Aruanã B
• Dias, Rodolfo Jasão S
• Mahiques, Michel M
• Barbosa, Lucas
• Balthazar-Silva, Danilo
• Moreira, Fabiana T

Titel

Three-dimensional distribution of plastic pellets in sandy beaches: shifting paradigms

Ist Teil von

• Scientific reports, 2014-03, Vol.4 (1), p.4435-4435, Article 4435

Ort / Verlag

England: Nature Publishing Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Plastic pellets are worldwide contaminants that accumulate in the ocean, especially in sandy beaches, where their historic standing-stock quantification relies on surface sediment samples. We demonstrated these particles present a three-dimensional instead of a simple along-across shore distribution, being found as deep as 2.0 m, with surface layers accounting for <10% of the total abundance in the sediment column. This gradient seemed to be more related to oceanographic rather than anthropic processes, suggesting a general pattern whose applicability to microplastics and sedimentary environments as a whole should be investigated. This poses criticism in the exactness of standing-stock records and demands urgent discussion of sampling protocols.