• español
    • English
  • Login
  • English 
    • español
    • English

UniversidaddeCádiz

Área de Biblioteca, Archivo y Publicaciones
Communities and Collections
View Item 
  •   RODIN Home
  • Producción Científica
  • Artículos Científicos
  • View Item
  •   RODIN Home
  • Producción Científica
  • Artículos Científicos
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Plastic debris in the open ocean

Thumbnail
Identificadores

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10498/16690

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1314705111

Files
2014 - PNAS.pdf (10.50Mb)
Statistics
View statistics
Metrics and citations
 
Share
Export
Export reference to MendeleyRefworksEndNoteBibTexRIS
Metadata
Show full item record
Author/s
Cózar-Cabañas, Andrés; Echevarria-Navas, Fidel; González-Gordillo, J.I.; Irigoien, Xabier; Úbeda, Bárbara; Hernández-León, Santiago; Palma, Álvaro T.; Navarro, Sandra; García-de-Lomas, Juan; Ruiz, Andrea; Fernández-de-Puelles, María L.; Duarte, Carlos M.
Date
2014-01-01
Department
Biología
Source
PNAS, vol. 111 no. 28
Abstract
There is a rising concern regarding the accumulation of floating plastic debris in the open ocean. However, the magnitude and the fate of this pollution are still open questions. Using data from the Malaspina 2010 circumnavigation, regional surveys, and previously published reports, we show a worldwide distribution of plastic on the surface of the open ocean, mostly accumulating in the convergence zones of each of the five subtropical gyres with comparable density. However, the global load of plastic on the open ocean surface was estimated to be on the order of tens of thousands of tons, far less than expected. Our observations of the size distribution of floating plastic debris point at important size-selective sinks removing millimeter-sized fragments of floating plastic on a large scale. This sink may involve a combination of fast nano-fragmentation of the microplastic into particles of microns or smaller, their transference to the ocean interior by food webs and ballasting processes, and processes yet to be discovered. Resolving the fate of the missing plastic debris is of fundamental importance to determine the nature and significance of the impacts of plastic pollution in the ocean.
Subjects
Plankton; Neuston; Plastic debris; size spectra
Collections
  • Artículos Científicos [3152]
  • Articulos Científicos Biología [153]
  • Artículos Científicos INMAR [226]
  • Investigación Ceimar [97]

Browse

All of RODINCommunities and CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

LoginRegister

Statistics

View Usage Statistics

Información adicional

AboutDeposit in RODINPoliciesGuidelinesRightsLinksStatisticsNewsFrequently Asked Questions

RODIN is available through

OpenAIREOAIsterRecolectaHispanaEuropeanaBaseDARTOATDGoogle Academic

Related links

Sherpa/RomeoDulcineaROAROpenDOARCreative CommonsORCID

RODIN está gestionado por el Área de Biblioteca, Archivo y Publicaciones de la Universidad de Cádiz

Contact informationSuggestions