Microplastics in the Mediterranean: Variability From Observations and Model Analysis
Frontiers in Marine Science2022
34 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 40
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Christina Zeri,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Chiara Gambardella,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Christina Zeri,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Francesca Garaventa
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Francesca Garaventa
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Verónica Piazza,
Silvia Morgana,
Verónica Piazza,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Elisa Costa,
Elisa Costa,
Elisa Costa,
Elisa Costa,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Elisa Costa,
Chiara Gambardella,
Chiara Gambardella,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Silvia Morgana,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Chiara Gambardella,
Christina Zeri,
Silvia Morgana,
Sana Ben Ismail,
Sana Ben Ismail,
Chiara Gambardella,
Chiara Gambardella,
Silvia Morgana,
Christina Zeri,
Silvia Morgana,
Francesca Garaventa
Silvia Morgana,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Elisa Costa,
Elisa Costa,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Verónica Piazza,
Verónica Piazza,
Chiara Gambardella,
Chiara Gambardella,
Francesca Garaventa
Chiara Gambardella,
Chiara Gambardella,
Sana Ben Ismail,
Chiara Gambardella,
Chiara Gambardella,
Sana Ben Ismail,
Chiara Gambardella,
Roberta Minetti,
Roberta Minetti,
Roberta Minetti,
Roberta Minetti,
Chiara Gambardella,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Chiara Gambardella,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Chiara Gambardella,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Francesca Garaventa
Chiara Gambardella,
Christina Zeri,
Verónica Piazza,
Sofia Kalaroni,
Francesca Garaventa
Verónica Piazza,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Francesca Garaventa
Silvia Morgana,
Francesca Garaventa
Silvia Morgana,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Elisa Costa,
Christina Zeri,
Francesca Garaventa
Roberta Minetti,
Elisa Costa,
Silvia Morgana,
Sofia Kalaroni,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Verónica Piazza,
Elisa Costa,
Silvia Morgana,
Silvia Morgana,
Christina Zeri,
Elisa Costa,
Chiara Gambardella,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Chiara Gambardella,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Verónica Piazza,
Francesca Garaventa
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Roberta Minetti,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Chiara Gambardella,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Christina Zeri,
Chiara Gambardella,
Marco Faimali,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Silvia Morgana,
Christina Zeri,
Francesca Garaventa
Sana Ben Ismail,
Roberta Minetti,
Elisa Costa,
Verónica Piazza,
Verónica Piazza,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Sofia Kalaroni,
Sofia Kalaroni,
Francesca Garaventa
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Verónica Piazza,
Marco Faimali,
Roberta Minetti,
Elisa Costa,
Elisa Costa,
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Marco Faimali,
Francesca Garaventa
Marco Faimali,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Chiara Gambardella,
Verónica Piazza,
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Silvia Morgana,
Francesca Garaventa
Roberta Minetti,
Marco Faimali,
Roberta Minetti,
Roberta Minetti,
Chiara Gambardella,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Francesca Garaventa
Chiara Gambardella,
Verónica Piazza,
Marco Faimali,
Sana Ben Ismail,
Sana Ben Ismail,
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Verónica Piazza,
Francesca Garaventa
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Francesca Garaventa
Christina Zeri,
Francesca Garaventa
Kostas Tsiaras,
Marco Faimali,
Mélilotus Thyssen,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Christina Zeri,
Francesca Garaventa
Sana Ben Ismail,
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Marco Faimali,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Marco Faimali,
Chiara Gambardella,
Yannis Hatzonikolakis,
Chiara Gambardella,
Sofia Kalaroni,
Francesca Garaventa
Marco Faimali,
Verónica Piazza,
Francesca Garaventa
Marco Faimali,
Marco Faimali,
Sofia Kalaroni,
Verónica Piazza,
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Christina Zeri,
Marco Faimali,
Francesca Garaventa
Francesca Garaventa
Marco Faimali,
Francesca Garaventa
Marco Faimali,
Chiara Gambardella,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Kostas Tsiaras,
Francesca Garaventa
Summary
Researchers combined field sampling across four Mediterranean coastal areas with hydrodynamic and particle drift modeling to characterize microplastic abundance, size, and polymer type variability, finding that wastewater and river inputs drive spatial patterns of surface MP distribution.
Study Type
Environmental
In this study, the abundance and properties (size, shape, and polymer type) of microplastics (MPs) in sea surface water samples, collected during two sampling campaigns over 2018–2019, in four coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea (Saronikos Gulf, LIgurian Sea, Gulf of Lion, and Gabes Gulf) were investigated. Coupled hydrodynamic/particle drift model simulations with basin-scale Mediterranean and high resolution nested models were used to provide a better understanding on the variability of the abundance/size of MPs, originating from wastewater and river runoff, in the four areas. Different size classes of MPs were considered in the model, taking into account biofouling induced sinking, as a possible mechanism of MPs removal from the surface. The Gabes Gulf showed the highest mean MPs abundance (0.073–0.310 items/m 2 ), followed by Ligurian Sea (0.061–0.134 items/m 2 ), Saronikos Gulf (0.047–0.080 items/m 2 ), and Gulf of Lion (0.029–0.032 items/m 2 ). Overall, the observed MPs abundance and size distribution was reasonably well reproduced by the model in the four different areas, except an overestimation of small size contribution in Saronikos Gulf. The basin-scale simulation revealed a strong decrease of smaller size MPs in offshore areas, due to biofouling induced sinking, with larger (floating) MPs being able to travel longer distances in the open sea. A significant impact of waves drift and advection of MPs from non-local sources was identified from model simulations, particularly in the Gulfs of Lion and Gabes, having a stronger effect on larger microplastics. In Gabes Gulf, most MPs originated from offshore areas, being mainly (floating) larger size classes, as suggested by the observed quite small contribution of <1 mm particles. The MPs observed abundance distribution in each area could be partly explained by the adopted sources distribution. The modeling tools proposed in this study provide useful insight to gain a better understanding on MPs dynamics in the marine environment and assess the current status of plastic pollution on basin and regional scale to further develop environmental management action for the mitigation of plastic pollution in the Mediterranean Sea.