Published today in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, the study is the third and final paper in a trilogy that explores the long-term fate of microplastic in the ocean.
Published today in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, the study is the third and final paper in a trilogy that explores the long-term fate of microplastic in the ocean. It builds on earlier research featured in Nature Water and Limnology & Oceanography, offering a complete picture of how plastic pollution moves from ocean surface to seafloor.
The study was led by researchers from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with HR Wallingford Ltd. It combines expertise in marine geochemistry, fluid dynamics, and environmental modelling to simulate how plastics move from the ocean surface to the deep sea over time.
The research reveals that even if all plastic inputs into the ocean were stopped immediately, fragments of buoyant plastic debris would continue to pollute the ocean surface and release microplastics for more than a century.
Read more at: Queen Mary University of London
Photo Credit: MolnarSzabolcsErdely via Pixabay
