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Response to Comment on “The missing ocean plastic sink: Gone with the rivers”
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Researchers responded to methodological criticisms of their study on the 'missing ocean plastic sink,' defending their field-measured data and river microplastic flux calculations as rigorous and correctly applied. They argued that critics misread their methods and that the conclusions about oceanic plastic residence time and novel contributions of the original study remain valid.
Mai et al. are mistaken in their assertions that we incorrectly calculated the residence time for floating microplastic stock at the ocean surface, and that most of our results are not novel. Their claim that our field-measured data and methods were not rigorous is wrong, as shown by a more careful consideration of what was done.
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Comment on “The missing ocean plastic sink: Gone with the rivers”
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This commentary challenges the methodology used by Weiss et al. to calculate a residence time of approximately 2.4 years for floating microplastic stock at the ocean surface, arguing the estimate is fundamentally flawed due to an unreliable river microplastic flux input used as the divisor. Researchers contend that dividing a published oceanic plastic stock by a questionable river flux estimate yields a residence time figure that does not accurately reflect ocean surface plastic dynamics.
No missing sink
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A reanalysis of ocean plastic data found that earlier estimates of the amount of microplastics entering the ocean from rivers were overestimated by a factor of two to three. This suggests the apparent 'missing sink' of ocean plastic may not exist, with more plastic than expected accumulating in coastal and shelf waters.
The missing ocean plastic sink: Gone with the rivers
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Researchers reanalyzed data on microplastics in rivers and oceans and found that previous estimates of how much plastic rivers deliver to the ocean were overestimated by 100 to 1,000 times. This means microplastics actually stay at the ocean surface much longer than previously thought, lasting years rather than days. The finding changes our understanding of where ocean microplastics come from and how long marine life and potentially seafood are exposed to them.
The quest for the missing plastics: Large uncertainties in river plastic export into the sea
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Researchers reviewed large discrepancies between modeled river plastic export to the ocean and observed ocean plastic concentrations, identifying major uncertainties in plastic transport models due to limited field observation data. The analysis pointed to river hydrodynamics, plastic beaching, and fragmentation as poorly constrained factors contributing to the so-called missing plastics problem.
The quest for the missing plastics: Large uncertainties in river plastic export into the sea
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Researchers reviewed modeling approaches for estimating river plastic transport to the ocean, identifying large discrepancies between modeled export quantities and observed ocean plastic concentrations. The study highlights major uncertainties in current models stemming from limited observational data and calls for improved monitoring to resolve the 'missing plastics' problem.
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.