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Microplastic partitioning in the coastal waters and atmosphere of the Persian Gulf, Iran
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Researchers measured microplastics, mostly fibres, in air, dust, seawater, sea foam and the water's surface layer in the Persian Gulf during winter and summer. Microplastics were far more concentrated in the surface layer and foam than in seawater below, and their characteristics varied by sample type and season, possibly linked to coastal chemical processes.
The dynamics of microplastics (MPs) in the coastal zone are highly complex. In this study, MPs have been determined in air, deposited dusts, seawater, sea foam and the sea surface microlayer (SML) of the Persian Gulf during winter and summer, along with measurements of major seawater ions. MPs were mainly fibres of various sizes and colours and consisted of thermoplastics, thermoplastic elastomers, resins and synthetic rubbers. Estimated settling velocities of MPs in the lower atmosphere were 28 – 47 m h-1 and there was a distinct enrichment of MPs in the SML relative to underlying seawater by factors of ~ 103 (assuming an SML thickness of 1000 mm) and in foam relative to seawater of ~ 103. This suggests that the SML is an important environment for the accumulation of MPs, but with a significant fraction lost through bubble ejection and breaking waves. Calculations based on fibre abundance and the percentage of fine (< 100 mm) MPs revealed evidence of fractionation by MP characteristics among the different sample types and between winter and summer. Reasons for fractionation are unclear but a correlation between the percentage of fibres and concentration ratios involving Ca2+, the only seawater ion exhibiting non-conservative distributions, suggests it is at least partly related to biogeochemical processes in the regional coastal zone.
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