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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Distribution and impacts of microplastic incorporation within sea ice
ClearPhysical processes behind interactions of microplastic particles with natural ice
Researchers investigated the physical processes governing microplastic incorporation into sea ice, finding that particle size, density, and surface properties — combined with ice crystal growth dynamics — determine whether microplastics concentrate in brine channels or become entrapped in the ice matrix.
Microplastics in sea ice: A fingerprint of bubble flotation
Researchers ran controlled laboratory experiments on ice formation from fresh and saltwater to understand how bubble flotation drives microplastic incorporation and concentration in sea ice, finding that bubbles entrain plastic particles during freezing and explain the unexpectedly high and compositionally distinct microplastic loads found in sea ice.
Entrainment and Enrichment of Microplastics in Ice Formation Processes: Implications for the Transport of Microplastics in Cold Regions
Researchers investigated how microplastic properties and environmental conditions affect their entrainment and enrichment during ice formation, finding that sea ice selectively concentrates microplastics and can serve as both a temporary sink and a transport medium in cold regions.
Global warming releases microplastic legacy frozen in Arctic Sea ice
Researchers demonstrated that Arctic sea ice stores a legacy microplastic burden accumulated over decades, and that accelerating sea ice melt from global warming will increasingly release these stored plastics back into the ocean.
Frazil Ice FormationCauses Divergent Levels of Microplasticand Nanoplastic Accumulation in Sea Ice
Researchers experimentally quantified micro- and nanoplastic enrichment by frazil ice formation, finding that high-density microplastic concentrations were approximately 2.97 times higher in sea ice than in underlying seawater, while nanoplastics showed divergent accumulation behavior based on particle size.
Frazil Ice FormationCauses Divergent Levels of Microplasticand Nanoplastic Accumulation in Sea Ice
Researchers experimentally quantified micro- and nanoplastic enrichment by frazil ice formation, finding that high-density microplastic concentrations were approximately 2.97 times higher in sea ice than in underlying seawater, while nanoplastics showed divergent accumulation behavior based on particle size.
Modeling the Accumulation and Transport of Microplastics by Sea Ice
Researchers used numerical modeling to examine how positively and neutrally buoyant microplastics accumulate in and are transported by Arctic and Southern Ocean sea ice, finding that sea ice acts as a significant seasonal reservoir and redistribution mechanism for microplastic pollution in polar regions.
Microplastic contamination in east Antarctic sea ice
Researchers analyzed an ice core from East Antarctic land-fast sea ice using micro-FTIR spectroscopy, finding 96 microplastic particles dominated by polyester and polypropylene, providing direct evidence that microplastics are incorporated into Antarctic sea ice.
Micro- and nanoplastic transfer in freezing saltwater: implications for their fate in polar waters
Researchers investigated the fate of micro- and nanoplastics during sea-ice formation using a novel experimental system that simulated progressive saltwater freezing, measuring how plastics partition between ice and liquid phases and assessing implications for plastic accumulation and transport in Arctic environments.
Arctic sea ice is an important temporal sink and means of transport for microplastic
This study showed that Arctic sea ice acts as a significant temporary reservoir for microplastics, trapping particles that are then released when ice melts, making sea ice both a sink and a transport mechanism for microplastic pollution.
Distribution of microplastics between ice and water in aquatic systems: The influence of particle properties, salinity and freshwater characteristics
Laboratory freezing experiments showed that ice formation in both saltwater and freshwater captures microplastics, but the extent varies significantly with water chemistry, particle shape, and suspended solids — fiber-shaped particles were far less likely to be trapped in ice than fragments. In cold climates, ice can act as a seasonal reservoir that concentrates microplastics and then releases them in large pulses when it melts, making spring snowmelt a potentially significant delivery event for aquatic ecosystems. These findings are relevant for understanding microplastic dynamics in Arctic, subarctic, and temperate freshwater systems.
Microplastic Particles and Fibers in Seasonal Ice of the Northern Baltic Sea
This study characterized microplastic particles and fibers in seasonal ice samples from the northern Baltic Sea, finding that ice acts as a seasonal reservoir that concentrates and then releases microplastics upon melting.
The spatial distribution and abundance of microplastics in lake waters and ice during ice-free and ice-covered periods
Researchers investigated how lake ice affects microplastic distribution in Lake Ulansuhai, finding that ice formation traps and concentrates microplastics, altering their spatial distribution and abundance between ice-covered and ice-free periods.
Microplastics have light-absorbing ability to enhance cryospheric melting
Researchers found that microplastics have light-absorbing properties that may reduce snow and ice surface albedo in polar and glacial regions, suggesting airborne microplastic deposition could accelerate cryospheric melting and represent an underappreciated feedback in global warming.
Microplastics in Southern Ocean sea ice: a pan-Antarctic perspective
The first pan-Antarctic survey of microplastics in Southern Ocean sea ice found an average of 44.8 particles per liter across 19 archived ice core samples, with 19 different polymer types detected even in one of Earth's most remote regions. This confirms that microplastic contamination has reached the polar oceans and is being concentrated and transported by sea ice, with implications for the marine food web as the ice melts.
Distribution characteristics of microplastics in surface and subsurface Antarctic seawater
Researchers characterized microplastic distribution in both surface and subsurface Antarctic seawater, finding plastic contamination present at multiple depths and dominated by fibers and fragments, highlighting that even remote polar waters are affected by plastic pollution.
Snowballing Impactof Spontaneously Degrading Microplasticson Atmospheric Ice Nucleation
Researchers demonstrated that as microplastics degrade in the environment they become smaller and more porous, dramatically enhancing their ice-nucleating activity. Global airborne microplastic data integrated with climate modelling suggested that this progressive degradation could alter precipitation patterns and atmospheric chemistry at a meaningful scale.
Vertical re-distribution of microplastics particles in sea ice due to cooling/warming cycles: A laboratory experiment
Researchers investigated how microplastic particles redistribute vertically within sea ice during cooling and warming cycles, identifying four relocation mechanisms including brine sinking, gas bubble flotation, brine density adjustment, and convective circulation. They found that the center of mass of polystyrene fragments shifted only a few millimeters per week in either direction, providing a quantitative baseline for modeling field contamination patterns.
Microplastics in sea ice and seawater beneath ice floes from the Arctic Ocean
Microplastic concentrations in Arctic sea ice were orders of magnitude higher than in the underlying seawater, with 2 to 17 particles per liter in ice versus 0 to 18 particles per cubic meter beneath floes in the Central Basin. Backward trajectory modeling suggested the sea ice originated from the Siberian shelf and other Arctic regions, consistent with long-range transport of microplastics to the pole.
Microplastics in landfast sea ice of Alaskan Arctic: Characteristics and potential sources
Microplastics were found at concentrations averaging 221 particles per liter in Alaskan Arctic landfast sea ice, with over 80% of particles smaller than 50 micrometers — small enough to be readily ingested by marine organisms. The sea ice near Barrow acts as a seasonal reservoir that traps microplastics from Pacific Ocean currents and then releases them when the ice melts, exposing Arctic marine ecosystems to a pulse of pollution each spring. The dominance of polyamide and polyethylene points to fishing gear and packaging waste as primary sources.
Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples
Researchers reported some of the first measured values for microplastic particles in Arctic polar waters, finding contamination even in these remote high-latitude waters and raising questions about long-range transport mechanisms.
Revealing the Freezing-Induced Alteration in Microplastic Behavior and Its Implication for the Microplastics Released from Seasonal Ice
Researchers revealed how freeze-thaw cycling alters microplastic behavior in environmental matrices, finding that freezing changes particle aggregation, surface properties, and transport dynamics with implications for polar and seasonally frozen environments.
Importance of seasonal sea ice in the western Arctic ocean to the Arctic and global microplastic budgets
This study quantified the role of western Arctic sea ice as a seasonal sink and transport vector for microplastics, finding that atmospheric deposition and sea ice dynamics contribute significantly to the regional and global microplastic budget.
Seasonal ice encapsulation: the pivotal influence on microplastic transport and fate in cold regions
This study examines how seasonal ice encapsulation influences the transport and fate of microplastics in cold regions, noting that the small size and stability of microplastics allow them to persist even in remote environments including the Arctic and Antarctic. The authors analyze how freeze-thaw cycles and ice dynamics play a pivotal role in controlling microplastic distribution in these ecosystems.