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Backtracing of marine litter and microplastic from OSPAR beaches in the North Atlantic
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Researchers used ocean circulation modeling to backtrace the origins of marine litter and microplastics collected at OSPAR monitoring beaches in the North Atlantic and North Sea, identifying likely source regions and transport timescales. This study demonstrates that systematic beach data combined with Lagrangian modeling can reveal transboundary pollution pathways.
Marine litter has been systematically registered at selected beaching sites within a framework of the OSPAR commission. We select a number of sites in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea to investigate where marine litter at these site could come from. Using results from hydrodynamic ocean models, wave models and atmospheric forecasts we backtrace litter from the beaching sites to possible origins within a limited time frame at the order of years. While the identified sources are hypothetical at first, we compare the types of registered plastic litter with reasonable sources in the regions identified as possible origins from the model. Thereby we distinguish between fishery related litter, industrial litter and litter from personal consumption, as the composition between these types differ between the OSPAR sites. Our modeling experiments are designed in co-production with stakeholders for planning strategies to address and reduce marine litter.
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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.