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Microplastic accumulation in endorheic river basins – The example of the Okavango Panhandle (Botswana)
The Science of The Total Environment2023
29 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 45
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Lee Haverson,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Steve Allen,
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Liam Kelleher,
Liam Kelleher,
Stefan Krause,
Liam Kelleher,
Liam Kelleher,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Liam Kelleher,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Steve Allen,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Deonie Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Steve Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Vittorio Maselli,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Vittorio Maselli,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Lee Haverson,
Lee Haverson,
Lee Haverson,
Lee Haverson,
Lee Haverson,
Lee Haverson,
Lee Haverson,
Lee Haverson,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Liam Kelleher,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Liam Kelleher,
Liam Kelleher,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Liam Kelleher,
Liam Kelleher,
Liam Kelleher,
Liam Kelleher,
Liam Kelleher,
Vittorio Maselli,
Vittorio Maselli,
Steve Allen,
Steve Allen,
Lee Haverson,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Anna Kukkola
Lee Haverson,
Stefan Krause,
Liam Kelleher,
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Lee Haverson,
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Liam Kelleher,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Deonie Allen,
Liam Kelleher,
Lee Haverson,
Liam Kelleher,
Anna Kukkola
Liam Kelleher,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Liam Kelleher,
Liam Kelleher,
Stefan Krause,
Liam Kelleher,
Stefan Krause,
Vittorio Maselli,
Stefan Krause,
Vittorio Maselli,
Vittorio Maselli,
Vittorio Maselli,
Deonie Allen,
Steve Allen,
Steve Allen,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Lee Haverson,
Lee Haverson,
Deonie Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Deonie Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Liam Kelleher,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Vittorio Maselli,
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Anna Kukkola
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Uwe Schneidewind,
Stefan Krause,
Mike Murray‐Hudson,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Vittorio Maselli,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Stefan Krause,
Deonie Allen,
Fulvio Franchi,
Steve Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Anna Kukkola
Steve Allen,
Anna Kukkola
Steve Allen,
Deonie Allen,
Stefan Krause,
Liam Kelleher,
Lee Haverson,
Stefan Krause,
Steve Allen,
Anna Kukkola
Summary
This study documented microplastic accumulation in the Okavango Panhandle river system in Botswana, finding that this largely pristine endorheic basin already contains detectable microplastic contamination despite limited local industrial activity, highlighting the long-range transport of plastic pollution.
The Okavango Panhandle is the main influent watercourse of the Okavango Delta, an inland sink of the entire sediment load of the Cubango-Okavango River Basin (CORB). The sources of pollution in the CORB, and other endorheic basins, are largely understudied when compared to exorheic systems and the world's oceans. We present the first study of the distribution of microplastic (MP) pollution in surface sediments of the Okavango Panhandle in Northern Botswana. MP concentrations (64 μm-5 mm size range) in sediment samples from the Panhandle range between 56.7 and 399.5 particles kg (dry weight) when analysed with fluorescence microscopy. The concentrations of MP in the 20 μm to 5 mm grain size range (analysed with Raman spectroscopy) range between 1075.7 and 1756.3 particles kg. One shallow core (15 cm long) from an oxbow lake suggests that MP size decreases with depth while MP concentration increases downcore. Raman Spectroscopy revealed that the compositions of the MP are dominated by polyethene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polyethene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). From this novel data set it was possible to estimate that 10.9-336.2 billion particles could be transported into the Okavango Delta annually, indicating that the region represents a significant sink for MP, raising concerns for the unique wetland ecosystem.