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Microplastics in the western Pacific and South China Sea: Spatial variations reveal the impact of Kuroshio intrusion

Environmental Pollution 2021 57 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 45 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Fajin Chen, Haowen Zheng, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Mengyang Liu, Mengyang Liu, Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Mengyang Liu, Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Mengyang Liu, Peng Huang, Peng Huang, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai, Yongcheng Ding, Haowen Zheng, Minggang Cai Mengyang Liu, Mengyang Liu, Minggang Cai, Minggang Cai, Minggang Cai, Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai Peng Huang, Minggang Cai Peng Huang, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Fajin Chen, Yongcheng Ding, Fajin Chen, Minggang Cai, Yongcheng Ding, Fajin Chen, Minggang Cai Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai, Yongcheng Ding, Haowen Zheng, Haowen Zheng, Minggang Cai, Weimin Wang, Fajin Chen, Minggang Cai, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Mengyang Liu, Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai Minggang Cai Yongcheng Ding, Peng Huang, Hongwei Ke, Minggang Cai, Minggang Cai, Minggang Cai, Minggang Cai Peng Huang, Peng Huang, Peng Huang, Hongwei Ke, Hongwei Ke, Hongwei Ke, Hongwei Ke, Fajin Chen, Fajin Chen, Weimin Wang, Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai Minggang Cai Yongcheng Ding, Fajin Chen, Weimin Wang, Haowen Zheng, Mengyang Liu, Peng Huang, Hongwei Ke, Peng Huang, Hongwei Ke, Peng Huang, Peng Huang, Hongwei Ke, Lihua Liu, Fajin Chen, Yongcheng Ding, Hongwei Ke, Yongcheng Ding, Hongwei Ke, Hongwei Ke, Mengyang Liu, Hongwei Ke, Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai, Yongcheng Ding, Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai, Hongwei Ke, Haowen Zheng, Minggang Cai, Mengyang Liu, Hongwei Ke, Minggang Cai Minggang Cai Hongwei Ke, Mengyang Liu, Haowen Zheng, Minggang Cai, Yongcheng Ding, Weimin Wang, Yongcheng Ding, Minggang Cai Hongwei Ke, Minggang Cai Minggang Cai, Minggang Cai, Minggang Cai

Summary

Surface microplastic distribution in the western Pacific and South China Sea was strongly influenced by Kuroshio Current intrusion, with stations affected by Kuroshio showing distinct polymer composition and concentration patterns from those outside its influence, demonstrating that major western boundary currents redistribute microplastics across ocean basin scales.

Polymers

PE PES PP

Study Type Environmental

Surface currents play an essential role in the worldwide distribution of microplastics in the coastal seas and open oceans. As a branch of the western boundary currents (WBCs), Kuroshio changes seawater properties and pollutant levels of the South China Sea (SCS) during its intrusion process. To study the impact of Kuroshio intrusion on microplastics, we conducted field observations on surface water from the western Pacific (WP) and SCS. Microplastic abundances in the surface water of WP (0.02-0.10 particles m) were generally lower than those in the SCS (0.05-0.26 particles m). Fragments and granules dominated their apparent characteristics, and showed spatial classifications in different areas. The abundance of fragment, granule and foam showed a similar unimodal trend, as they peaked when the Kuroshio fraction was 0.1, implying the effect of Kuroshio intrusion was a combination of the dilution and biogeochemical influence. The polymer types of microplastics, dominated by polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyester (PES), polymethacrylate (PMA) and phenoxy resin (PR), showed complicated compositions in the northern SCS, and Kuroshio intrusion was not the dominant influencing factor. Further study is needed to discover the comprehensive effect of Kuroshio intrusion on the fate of microplastics and is expected for the whole WBC system.

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