Ocean Science
Ocean Science
OS
Articles | Volume 17, issue 2
Articles | Volume 17, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-431-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-431-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 17, issue 2
Research article
 | 
09 Mar 2021
Research article |  | 09 Mar 2021

Sinking microplastics in the water column: simulations in the Mediterranean Sea

Rebeca de la Fuente, Gábor Drótos, Emilio Hernández-García, Cristóbal López, and Erik van Sebille

Data sets

MEDUSA-2.0: an intermediate complexity biogeochemical model of the marine carbon cycle for climate change and ocean acidification studies (http://opendap4gws.jasmin.ac.uk/thredds/nemo/root/nemo_scan_catalog.html) A. Yool, E. E. Popova, and T. R. Anderson https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-1767-2013

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Short summary
Plastic pollution is a major environmental issue affecting the oceans. The number of floating and sedimented pieces has been quantified by several studies. But their abundance in the water column remains mostly unknown. To fill this gap we model the dynamics of a particular type of particle, rigid microplastics sinking rapidly in open sea in the Mediterranean. We find they represent a small but appreciable fraction of the total sea plastic and discuss characteristics of their sinking motion.
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