The seabed of the deep sea is even more heavily contaminated with microplastics than previously thought. German scientists came to this conclusion in a study. In samples taken in the West Pacific Kuril-Kamchatka Trench in 2016, between 215 and 1,596 of the tiny plastic particles per kilogram of sediment were detected, more than before, according to the Senckenberg Society. The great biological diversity in the deepest sea is therefore seriously threatened.
A large part of the plastic waste in the oceans comes from land, via rivers or sewers. Larger pieces of plastic are ground into smaller and smaller pieces over the course of decades. Some of the waste collects in huge carpets on the surface of the oceans, but most of it sinks into maritime trenches thousands of feet below the surface.
“We took a total of 13 samples at seven different stations along the trench, at depths of 5,740 to 9,450 meters. None of them were free of microplastics,” reports marine biologist Serena Abel of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt. Nobody had expected such a large amount of microplastic particles before.
14 different types of plastic discovered in the deep sea
“Each year, an estimated 2.4 to four million tons of plastic enters the sea through rivers as a result of extreme global plastic consumption and poorly organized waste disposal,” said researcher Angelika Brandt. The deep sea is becoming the “repository of waste”. In total, 14 different types of plastic have been discovered. The scientists from the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, the Frankfurt Goethe University and the Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI) in Bremerhaven presented their results in the journal “Science of the Total Environment”.
“Until now, the deepest seabed has been considered a relatively untouched and stable environment in which the microplastics are deposited and remain in one place,” says Abel. But the study found that samples taken several feet apart had a very different structure. “This shows what a dynamic environment the deepest parts of the deep sea really are.” Eddies, currents and organisms would keep the sediment moving.
The waste stream is likely to increase in the future. According to previous data from the AWI, global plastic production is expected to double by 2045.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
