The Kara Gate is the main route for microplastics to enter the Kara Sea

To date, the Arctic Ocean is poorly studied in comparison with other areas of the world ocean. The main research is concentrated mainly in the waters of the Barents Sea. For the rest of the seas of the Eurasian part of the Arctic, there is much less data, including for the Kara Sea. This work is devoted to the study of pollution of the Kara Sea by floating microplastic particles and their spatial variability, as well as the identification of the main sources. Sampling throughout the Kara Sea was carried out using the neuston net in August 2021, starting from the Kara Gate, reaching 83N latitude and ending in the northeastern part of the Barents Sea along the border with the Kara Sea. This study made it possible to compare different areas of the Kara Sea in terms of the abundance and characteristics of the detected microplastic particles. The average microplastic abundance in the Kara Sea was 0.124 ± 0.383 items/m3. The maximum concentrations of microplastics were noted in the Kara Gate area (0.93 items/m3), which suggests that it is an important source of microplastic pollution of the Kara Sea. The river flow has a weak effect on pollution (0.008 items/m3 in river water) compared with other regions of the Kara Sea. Differences between river and high saline water were observed, among other things, in chemical composition: polystyrene particles prevailed in the river plume - 52 Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559650/document