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Microplastics in Soils of the Thala Hills, East Antarctica
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For the first time, microplastics were detected in the soils of East Antarctica's Thala Hills region, with concentrations ranging from 66 to nearly 2,000 particles per kilogram of dry soil across all sampled sites. Fibers under 1 mm dominated the samples, and contamination did not cluster around research infrastructure, pointing to long-distance atmospheric transport as the likely delivery mechanism. The findings confirm that even the most remote Antarctic soils are not free from plastic pollution originating thousands of kilometers away.
For the first time, using the example of the Vecherny Oasis (Thala Hills, Enderby Land), data on the content of microplastic particles (<5 mm) in the soils of East Antarctica were obtained. Seven samples taken from a depth of 0–15 cm were analyzed. Two soil fractions (<1 mm and 1–5 mm) were studied in triplicate (42 individual samples). The method for isolating microplastic particles included soil sieving, density separation in a zinc chloride solution, centrifugation, vacuum filtration, and microscopic analysis. For filtration, glass fiber filters with pore diameter of 1.6 µm were used. Quantification of microplastic particles was carried out using a microscope, digital camera, and appropriate software. Microplastic particles were present in all the analyzed samples. Their quantity varied from 66 to 1933 particles/kg dry soil. In most cases, particles <1 mm predominated (70–100% of all particles). The share of fibers reached 70%; the share of fragments, 30%; plastic films were found sporadically. There was no definite allocation of the increased number of microplastic particles to particular infrastructure facilities, which may be a consequence of the influence of other factors, including local and long-distance transfer of microplastics.
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Microplastics in the Soils of the Thala Hills, East Antarctica
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers analyzed seven soil samples from the Vecherny Oasis in the Thala Hills, East Antarctica to quantify microplastic content for the first time in this region, finding particles in all samples at concentrations ranging from 66 to 1,933 units per kilogram of dry soil. Particles smaller than 1 mm predominated (70-100%), with fibers comprising the majority of identified shapes, and no clear spatial association with nearby infrastructure was observed.
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