Abstract
Floating plastic debris is an increasing source of pollution in the world's oceans. Numerical simulations using models of ocean currents give insight into the transport and distribution of microplastics in the oceans, but most simulations do not account for the oscillating flow caused by global barotropic tides. Here, we investigate the influence of barotropic tidal currents on the transport and accumulation of floating microplastics, by numerically simulating the advection of virtual plastic particles released all over the world's oceans and tracking these for 13 years. We use geostrophic and surface Ekman currents from GlobCurrent and the currents caused by the four main tidal constituents (M 2, S 2, K 1, and O 1) from the FES model. We analyze the differences between the simulations with and without the barotropic tidal currents included, focusing on the open ocean. In each of the simulations, we see that microplastic accumulates in regions in the subtropical gyres, which is in agreement with observations. The formation and location of these accumulation regions remain unaffected by the barotropic tidal currents. However, there are a number of coastal regions where we see differences when the barotropic tidal currents are included. Due to uncertainties of the model in coastal regions, further investigation is required in order to draw conclusions in these areas. Our results suggest that, in the global open ocean, barotropic tidal currents have little impact on the transport and accumulation of floating microplastic and can thus be neglected in simulations aimed at studying microplastic transport in the open ocean.
Highlights
Marine pollution caused by floating plastic debris is a global problem of increasing concern (e.g., Andrady, 2011; Law, 2016)
In each of the simulations, we see that microplastic accumulates in regions in the subtropical gyres, which is in agreement with observations
In the global open ocean, barotropic tidal currents have little impact on the transport and accumulation of floating microplastic and can be neglected in simulations aimed at studying microplastic transport in the open ocean
Summary
Marine pollution caused by floating plastic debris is a global problem of increasing concern (e.g., Andrady, 2011; Law, 2016). Plastic litter can enter the oceans from land-based sources or entry points including rivers (Lebreton et al, 2017), beaches, and agricultural runoff or sea-based sources such as ships, platforms, and fishing piers (see Maximenko et al, 2019, for a recent review) and is one of the most common and persistent pollutants in the global ocean. Plastic waste floating at the ocean surface can significantly harm the near-surface ocean environment, especially marine life (e.g., Compa et al, 2019). Understanding the severity of the harm marine plastic litter can cause, and finding solutions to the growing problem of plastic waste accumulating in the oceans, requires knowledge of the sources, pathways, and fate of plastics. Sampling microplastics is especially hard as they are not observable due to their small size
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