Table 1 Average abundance and average weight concentration of microplastics in surface and subsurface samples in the Eurasian Arctic different seas and different water masses in comparison to available previous research surveys in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
From: Microplastics distribution in the Eurasian Arctic is affected by Atlantic waters and Siberian rivers
Surface samples | Subsurface samples | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N of samples | Mean abundance items/m3 (items/km2) | Mean particle surface area (mm2) | Mean weight concentration μg/m3 | N of samples | Mean abundance itemsa/m3 (fragm/fibre) | Mean particle surface area (mm2) | Mean weight concentration μga/m3 | |
Present study | ||||||||
Total | 48 | 0.004 (800) | 3.2 | 3.7 | 60 | 0.8 (0.3/0.5) | 0.04 | 1.3 |
For each Sea | ||||||||
Barents Sea | 7 | 0.005 (1000) | 6.1 | 12.5 | 6 | 0.8 (0.4/0.4) | 0.21 | 6.6 |
Kara Sea | 15 | 0.003 (700) | 3.5 | 3.8 | 16 | 1.0 (0.7/0.3) | 0.04 | 1.1 |
Laptev Sea | 20 | 0.002 (400) | 1.2 | 0.5 | 20 | 0.7 (0.2/0.5) | 0.03 | 0.5 |
East-Siberian Sea | 6 | 0.010 (2000) | 2.2 | 3.9 | 18 | 0.8 (0.2/0.6) | 0.02 | 0.4 |
For each water mass | ||||||||
Inner plume | 6 | 0.0045 (900) | 1.3 | 1.6 | 3 | 0.8 (0/0.8) | 0.02 | 0.3 |
Outer plume | 21 | 0.0051 (1000) | 2.2 | 2.9 | 29 | 0.6 (0.2/0.4) | 0.03 | 0.4 |
Polar surface water | 10 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0.9 (0.5/0.4) | 0.04 | 1.1 | |
Atlantic surface water | 11 | 0.0045 (900) | 6.1 | 9.8 | 12 | 1.0 (0.6/0.4) | 0.08 | 3.8 |
Other studies | ||||||||
Barents Sea | 75 (Ref. 10) | 2.68 (Ref. 10) | ||||||
North Atlantic | 470 (Ref. 64) | 2.46 (Ref. 64) | ||||||
Arctic Oceanc | 21 (Ref. 12) | (0; 0–27,000) (Ref. 12)b | 7 (Ref. 15) | 2.4 (Ref. 15) | ||||
Arctic Central Basin | 57 (Ref. 16) | 0.7 (Ref. 16) | ||||||
Western Atlantic | >6100 (Ref. 66) | (1500) (Ref. 66) | ||||||
Equatorial Atlantic | 88 (Ref. 67) | 0.01 (Ref. 67) | ||||||
