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Quantifying microplastics in fjords along the Western Antarctic Peninsula
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Water samples collected between 2017 and 2020 from fjords along the Western Antarctic Peninsula — newly formed habitats exposed by rapidly retreating glaciers — confirmed the presence of microplastics in every site sampled, with concentrations increasing year over year. This demonstrates that even newly emerging, extremely remote polar habitats are not shielded from microplastic pollution, underscoring the truly global reach of plastic contamination.
Microplastics are ubiquitous around the world. Microplastics have been documented around the Southern Ocean, in coastal sediments and in Antarctic marine organisms, however microplastics data for Antarctic waters remain scarce. Microplastics concentrations were characterized from fjord habitats on the Western Antarctic Peninsula where most glaciers are rapidly retreating. Water samples were collected from 2017 to 2020 from surface and benthos, vacuum-filtered, quantified to determine the classification of microplastic, color, and size. Micro-FTIR spectrophotometry was utilized to confirm chemical composition. Comparisons over time and location were made for average microplastic per liter. Despite the new emergent youth and remoteness of these habitats, it was determined that all fjord habitats had microplastics present each year sampled and increased from 2017 to 2020 in each fjord. Despite physical 'barriers' such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (and particularly its strongest jet, the Polar Front), microplastics are clearly present and increasing in even recent habitats.
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This review documents the spread of microplastics throughout Antarctica -- in seawater, sediments, freshwater lakes, snow, glaciers, and marine organisms -- despite the continent having minimal local pollution sources. The findings demonstrate that microplastic contamination is truly global, reaching even the most isolated ecosystems on Earth through atmospheric and ocean currents.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.