The submarine Congo Canyon as a conduit for microplastics to the deep sea
2023
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Florian Pohl,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Florian Pohl,
Florian Pohl,
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Marco Mattonai,
Marco Mattonai,
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Ed Pope,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Jacopo La Nasa
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Stephen M. Simmons,
Maarten Heijnen,
Maarten Heijnen,
Maarten Heijnen,
Sophie Hage,
Sophie Hage,
Marco Mattonai,
Peter J. Talling,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Florian Pohl,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Florian Pohl,
Florian Pohl,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Florian Pohl,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Florian Pohl,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Maarten Heijnen,
Francesca De Falco,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Francesca De Falco,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Florian Pohl,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Fadi El Gareb,
Fadi El Gareb,
Jacopo La Nasa
Fadi El Gareb,
Jacopo La Nasa
Fadi El Gareb,
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Francesca Modugno,
Marco Mattonai,
Marco Mattonai,
Jacopo La Nasa
Marco Mattonai,
Jacopo La Nasa
Lars Hildebrandt,
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Lars Hildebrandt,
Sophie Hage,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Jacopo La Nasa
Francesca De Falco,
Florian Pohl,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Francesca De Falco,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Francesca Modugno,
Peter J. Talling,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Marco Mattonai,
Marco Mattonai,
Francesca De Falco,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Marco Mattonai,
Marco Mattonai,
Marco Mattonai,
Marco Mattonai,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Jacopo La Nasa
Florian Pohl,
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Francesca Modugno,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Francesca Modugno,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Francesca De Falco,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Joey O’Dell,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Peter J. Talling,
Marco Mattonai,
Marco Mattonai,
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Jacopo La Nasa
Marco Mattonai,
Francesca Modugno,
Marco Mattonai,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca Modugno,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Fadi El Gareb,
Peter J. Talling,
Peter J. Talling,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca De Falco,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Francesca Modugno,
Daniel Proefrock,
Jacopo La Nasa
Megan Baker,
Fadi El Gareb,
Francesca Modugno,
Florian Pohl,
Jacopo La Nasa
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Francesca Modugno,
Florian Pohl,
Florian Pohl,
Jacopo La Nasa
Sophie Hage,
Florian Pohl,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Daniel Proefrock,
Francesca De Falco,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Jacopo La Nasa
Megan Baker,
Sophie Hage,
Francesca Modugno,
Marco Mattonai,
Francesca Modugno,
Jacopo La Nasa
Francesca Modugno,
Sophie Hage,
Francesca Modugno,
Peter J. Talling,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Francesca Modugno,
Fadi El Gareb,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Francesca Modugno,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Florian Pohl,
Florian Pohl,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Francesca Modugno,
Sophie Hage,
Francesca Modugno,
Sean Ruffell,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca Modugno,
Stephen M. Simmons,
Francesca Modugno,
Jacopo La Nasa
Francesca Modugno,
Marco Mattonai,
Jacopo La Nasa
Marco Mattonai,
Jacopo La Nasa
Ed Pope,
Florian Pohl,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca Modugno,
Stephen M. Simmons,
Daniel Proefrock,
Francesca Modugno,
Martin Hasenhündl,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca De Falco,
Francesca Modugno,
Daniel Proefrock,
Stephen M. Simmons,
Francesca Modugno,
Marco Mattonai,
Francesca Modugno,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Francesca Modugno,
Peter J. Talling,
Catharina Heerema,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Francesca Modugno,
Florian Pohl,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca Modugno,
Francesca Modugno,
Maarten Heijnen,
Sean Ruffell,
Joris T. Eggenhuisen,
Francesca Modugno,
Sean Ruffell,
Stephen M. Simmons,
Francesca Modugno,
Stephen M. Simmons,
Martin Hasenhündl,
Jacopo La Nasa
Francesca De Falco,
Daniel Proefrock,
Daniel Proefrock,
Ed Pope,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Ricardo Silva Jacinto,
Maarten Heijnen,
Florian Pohl,
Florian Pohl,
Sophie Hage,
Stephen M. Simmons,
Ed Pope,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Martin Hasenhündl,
Catharina Heerema,
Lars Hildebrandt,
Jacopo La Nasa
Summary
Researchers investigated the Congo Canyon submarine canyon as a potential conduit for transporting land-derived plastic waste to the deep sea. The canyon, which connects the Congo River to the deep Atlantic, may funnel significant amounts of microplastics from Central Africa's coast to the seafloor thousands of meters below. Understanding deep-sea plastic transport pathways is critical for assessing the full extent of ocean microplastic contamination.
Study Type
Environmental
The increasing plastic pollution of the world’s oceans represents a serious threat to marine ecosystems and has become a well-known topic garnering growing public attention. The global input of plastic waste into the oceans is estimated to be approximately 10 million tons per year and predicted to rise by one order of magnitude by 2025. More than 90% of the plastic that enters the oceans is thought to end up on the seafloor, and seafloor sediment samples show that plastics are concentrated in confined morphologies and sedimentary environments such as submarine canyons. These canyons are occasionally flushed by powerful gravity-driven sediment flows called turbidity currents, which transport vast volumes of sediment to the deep sea and deposit sediment in deep-sea fans. As such, turbidity currents may also transport plastics present in the canyon and bury plastics in deep-sea fans. These fans may therefore act as sinks for seafloor plastics. Here we present a comprehensive dataset showing the spatial distribution of microplastics in seafloor sediments from the Congo Canyon, offshore West Africa. Multicores taken from 16 locations along the canyon, sampled different sedimentary sub-environments including the canyon thalweg, canyon terraces, and distal lobe. Microplastics were extracted from the sediments by density separation and the polymer type, size, and shape of all individual microplastic particles were analysed using laser-direct infrared-spectroscopy (LDIR). Microplastic number concentrations in the sediments of the distal lobe are significantly higher than in the canyon, indicating that the Congo Canyon system is a highly efficient conduit for microplastic transport to the deep sea. Moreover, microplastic concentrations of >20,000 particles per kg of dry sediment were recorded in the lobe, which represent some of the highest ever recorded microplastic number concentrations in seafloor sediments. This shows that deep-sea fans can serve as hotspots and potential terminal sinks for seafloor microplastics.