0
Article Tier 2 Sign in to save

Marine litter in the Croatian part of the middle Adriatic Sea: Simultaneous assessment of floating and seabed macro and micro litter abundance and composition.

AI summary Read the abstract

Floating and seabed macro- and micro-litter in the Croatian middle Adriatic Sea were simultaneously surveyed, finding average floating micro-litter concentrations of 127,000 particles per square kilometer and seabed micro-litter of 36 particles per 100 g dry weight. The study confirms that plastic pollution is widespread at all depths in this semi-enclosed Mediterranean sea.

In this study, abundance, distribution and composition of floating and seabed macro and micro litter in the Central Adriatic Sea were assessed. Floating macro litter observations were made. Floating and seabed micro litter were sampled with manta net and Van Veen grab, respectively. Micro litter particles visually found under the microscope were chemically analyzed with Fourier Transform Infrared microscope. Average calculated concentrations of floating macro (175 items/km), floating micro (127 thousand particles/km) and seabed micro litter (36 particles/100 g dry weight) show similar values as other published studies from the Mediterranean Sea. A statistically significant (p < 0.01) correlation between the floating micro and macro litter concentrations was found for the sites located in the channel waters. Disagreement between model and observations revealed gaps in our knowledge concerning the sea circulation and litter sources. Simultaneous samplings and observations of marine litter in different marine compartments proved possible, efficient and informative.

More Papers Like This

Article Tier 2

A critical review on marine litter in the Adriatic Sea: Focus on plastic pollution

AI summary Read the abstract

This review critically analyzed data from 53 scientific papers on marine litter in the Adriatic Sea, synthesizing information on microplastic and macroplastic presence in water, beaches, seabed sediments, and biota across this semi-enclosed Mediterranean basin.

Article Tier 2

Floating plastics in Adriatic waters (Mediterranean Sea): From the macro- to the micro-scale

AI summary Read the abstract

Researchers quantified macro- and microplastics across the Adriatic Sea from populated gulfs and river outlets to offshore waters in five countries, finding widespread plastic contamination including small-sized fragments and demonstrating that small vessels enable detection of plastic size fractions missed by standard surveys.

Article Tier 2

Small plastic debris in sediments from the Central Adriatic Sea: Types, occurrence and distribution

AI summary Read the abstract

Microplastic debris was found in all sediment samples collected along a 140 km transect in the central Adriatic Sea, including in deep offshore sediments. The study is one of the first to systematically document microplastic distribution along a coast-to-open-sea gradient in this region.

Article Tier 2

Micro- and mesoplastics in sea surface water from a Northern Adriatic coastal area

AI summary Read the abstract

Researchers collected plastic particles from two sea surface monitoring transects near the Venice Lagoon using a manta net and characterized them by typology, dimension, color, spatial density, and chemical composition using a multi-technique analytical approach. They identified distinct subgroups of plastic micro-debris in this Northern Adriatic coastal area and documented the widespread presence of polymeric materials in surface seawater.

Article Tier 2

From Macroplastic to Microplastic Litter: Occurrence, Composition, Source Identification and Interaction with Aquatic Organisms. Experiences from the Adriatic Sea

AI summary Read the abstract

This review examined the occurrence, composition, and ecological interactions of marine litter from macroplastic to microplastic scale in the Adriatic Sea, summarizing field data on abundance, polymer types, distribution patterns, and observed effects on aquatic organisms.

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.

Email me about

Share this paper