Floating Riverine Litter Flux to the White Sea: Seasonal Changes in Abundance and Composition

Arctic rivers bring litter from their basins to the sea, but accurate data for the Arctic do not exist yet. This study presents the first assessment of floating macro litter input (>2.5 cm) from the Northern Dvina and Onega rivers to the White Sea. The observations were performed based on the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) methodology and using the mobile application of the Joint Research Centre (Ispra, Italy). The results of observations from May 2021 to November 2021 show that 77% of floating objects were of natural origin (mainly leaves, wood and bird feathers). Of the particles of anthropogenic origin, 59.6% were represented by various types of plastics, 27.7% were processed wood, 8.5% paper/cardboard, 2.7% metal, 1.1% were rubber and <1% textiles. The average monthly input of anthropogenic macro litter by the Northern Dvina varies from 250 to 1700 items/hour, and by Onega from 520 to 2350 items/hour. The level of pollution of the studied rivers was found to be higher than in some Europeans rivers but lower than in China. The mass discharge of macroplastics in the Northern Dvina River was compared with the estimates of the discharge of meso- and microplastics; that allowed us to show that the discharge of macroplastics in mass units is much higher than of micro- and mesoplastics.publishedVersio

Author Correction: Floating macrolitter leaked from Europe into the ocean (Nature Sustainability, (2021), 4, 6, (474-483), 10.1038/s41893-021-00722-6)

During the preparation of the Supplementary Data spreadsheet “S. Data 3_Regression data,” the mean and median confidence intervals (CI) of FML (items yr−1) were misplaced in relation to their corresponding river names. The Supplementary Data file has now been updated in the HTML version of the article. This update does not alter the results or conclusions of this article.Correction to: Nature Sustainability https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00722-6, published online 10 June 2021. During the preparation of the Supplementary Data spreadsheet “S. Data 3_Regression data,” the mean and median confidence intervals (CI) of FML (items yr−1) were misplaced in relation to their corresponding river names. The Supplementary Data file has now been updated in the HTML version of the article. This update does not alter the results or conclusions of this article.Peer reviewe

Floating macro litter in European rivers - top items

The JRC exploratory project RIMMEL provides information about litter, mainly plastic waste, entering the European Seas through river systems. RIMMEL has collected data on riverine floating macro litter inputs to the sea. Data acquisition was based on the Riverine Litter Observation Network (RiLON) activities, which collected data from rivers in the European marine basins over a period of one year (September 2016 – September 2017). Data was collected by visual observations and documented with the JRC Floating Litter Monitoring Application for mobile devices, allowing a harmonized reporting, compatible with the MSFD Master List of Categories for Litter Items. This report includes the Top Items lists of riverine floating macro litter, based on the total amount of litter items identified during RiLON activities and ranked by abundance. Top Items lists have been elaborated considering the whole database for the European Seas and further detailed for each individual European regional sea: Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and North-East Atlantic. The North-East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea regions showed similar litter categories in their Top 20 Items. These two regions provided most of the available data, influencing the general Top Items list. In the Black Sea and Baltic Sea regions, where data availability was limited, the Top Items lists showed more differences among the different regions. Overall, the general Top Items list for the European Seas showed a predominance of plastic item categories (artificial polymer materials). As a whole, plastic items made up to 80.8% of all objects, with plastic and polystyrene fragments comprising 45% of the identified items in the database. Additionally, Single Use Plastics such as bottles, cover/packaging and bags were also ranked among the most frequently found floating litter. The similarities in the Top 10 and Top 20 items for the different regions, and the appearance of Single Use Plastics scoring high in the ranking, support the need for common actions against plastic pollution at EU level.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource

Riverine Litter Flux to the Northeastern Part of the Black Sea

Rivers are among the main sources of marine litter, especially for semi-isolated sea areas with high populations and intense economic activity. The semi-isolated Black Sea located in the Eastern Europe is an example of such an area, whose watershed basin is under high anthropogenic pressure. In this study, we report the results of the first long-term monitoring program of floating litter at several rivers inflowing to the northeastern part of the Black Sea. We describe the main characteristics of registered marine litter, including the distribution of its type and size. Based on the obtained results, we reveal the relation between river discharge rate and the litter flux for the considered rivers. Using this relation extended to all rivers of the study area, we assess the total annual flux of riverine litter to the northeastern part of the Black Sea

Riverine Litter Flux to the Northeastern Part of the Black Sea

Rivers are among the main sources of marine litter, especially for semi-isolated sea areas with high populations and intense economic activity. The semi-isolated Black Sea located in the Eastern Europe is an example of such an area, whose watershed basin is under high anthropogenic pressure. In this study, we report the results of the first long-term monitoring program of floating litter at several rivers inflowing to the northeastern part of the Black Sea. We describe the main characteristics of registered marine litter, including the distribution of its type and size. Based on the obtained results, we reveal the relation between river discharge rate and the litter flux for the considered rivers. Using this relation extended to all rivers of the study area, we assess the total annual flux of riverine litter to the northeastern part of the Black Sea

Experimental study of the permafrost thawing effect on the content of nutrients and heavy metals in seawater during abrasion destruction of the Arctic coast

In the context of global warming, the permafrost thawing could have a significant impact on the chemical composition of seawaters in the Arctic. Permafrost thawing is a potential source of organic and inorganic forms of nutrients, as well as heavy metals. During the Russian-Norwegian expedition to Svalbard in June 2018, the researchers carried out a laboratory experiment to assess the permafrost thawing effect on the chemical properties of seawater. They took permafrost samples from an abrasive slope 10 km west of Longyearbyen. The experiment took place in the laboratory of the University Center on Svalbard (UNIS), the changes in dissolved oxygen, pH, concentrations of nutrients and pollutants associated with the thawing of permafrost were investigated. During the experiment, the researchers added permafrost samples to the seawater samples, and then kept the solution under natural conditions while taking samples at regular intervals. The experimental data made it possible to assess the changes in the concentration of chemicals because of the permafrost thawing. The experiment shows the significance of the investigated process for coastal waters, its effect on the supply of nutrients, heavy metals, ocean acidification, and, in this regard, demonstrates the sensibility of coastal ecosystems to multiple factors associated with global warming

Arctic Inshore Biogeochemical Regime Influenced by Coastal Runoff and Glacial Melting (Case Study for the Templefjord, Spitsbergen)

Observations and predictions show that consequences of climate warming such as declining summer sea ice cover, melting glaciers, thawing permafrost, and increased river runoff to the Arctic Ocean will likely modify processes relevant to the freshwater and carbon budget, which in turn affect high-latitude marine ecosystems. There is a knowledge gap in terms of understanding the seasonal variability of biogeochemical characteristics in coastal environments, first of all due to a lack of winter data. More data are also needed on the biogeochemical composition of different environmental media, i.e., sediments, snow, and ice. The aim of this work was to assess the current biogeochemical regime of a fjord system exposed to coastal runoff and glacial melting and discuss the possible consequences connected with climate warming. We used data from five expeditions to the Templefjord, West Spitsbergen, obtained in different seasons (February 2011, September 2011, March 2014, June 2015, and June 2017). In all the expeditions, the distributions of dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and carbonate system parameters in the water column were studied. The principal environmental media, i.e., seawater, bottom sediments, river water, sea ice, river ice, glacier ice, and snow, were sampled. The collected data allowed us to describe seasonal dynamics in the water column and to estimate the concentrations of the parameters under study in different environmental media. Our observations revealed the glacial and river footprints in the water column biogeochemistry; the glacial influence can be traced both in summer and in winter season. The results demonstrated the significant influence of coastal runoff and melted glacier water on the carbonate system and nutrient regime in the Templefjord, and can be extrapolated to other Arctic fjord systems

Experimental study of the permafrost thawing effect on the content of nutrients and heavy metals in seawater during abrasion destruction of the Arctic coast

In the context of global warming, the permafrost thawing could have a significant impact on the chemical composition of seawaters in the Arctic. Permafrost thawing is a potential source of organic and inorganic forms of nutrients, as well as heavy metals. During the Russian-Norwegian expedition to Svalbard in June 2018, the researchers carried out a laboratory experiment to assess the permafrost thawing effect on the chemical properties of seawater. They took permafrost samples from an abrasive slope 10 km west of Longyearbyen. The experiment took place in the laboratory of the University Center on Svalbard (UNIS), the changes in dissolved oxygen, pH, concentrations of nutrients and pollutants associated with the thawing of permafrost were investigated. During the experiment, the researchers added permafrost samples to the seawater samples, and then kept the solution under natural conditions while taking samples at regular intervals. The experimental data made it possible to assess the changes in the concentration of chemicals because of the permafrost thawing. The experiment shows the significance of the investigated process for coastal waters, its effect on the supply of nutrients, heavy metals, ocean acidification, and, in this regard, demonstrates the sensibility of coastal ecosystems to multiple factors associated with global warming.publishedVersio

Floating Riverine Litter Flux to the White Sea: Seasonal Changes in Abundance and Composition

Arctic rivers bring litter from their basins to the sea, but accurate data for the Arctic do not exist yet. This study presents the first assessment of floating macro litter input (&gt;2.5 cm) from the Northern Dvina and Onega rivers to the White Sea. The observations were performed based on the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) methodology and using the mobile application of the Joint Research Centre (Ispra, Italy). The results of observations from May 2021 to November 2021 show that 77% of floating objects were of natural origin (mainly leaves, wood and bird feathers). Of the particles of anthropogenic origin, 59.6% were represented by various types of plastics, 27.7% were processed wood, 8.5% paper/cardboard, 2.7% metal, 1.1% were rubber and &lt;1% textiles. The average monthly input of anthropogenic macro litter by the Northern Dvina varies from 250 to 1700 items/hour, and by Onega from 520 to 2350 items/hour. The level of pollution of the studied rivers was found to be higher than in some Europeans rivers but lower than in China. The mass discharge of macroplastics in the Northern Dvina River was compared with the estimates of the discharge of meso- and microplastics; that allowed us to show that the discharge of macroplastics in mass units is much higher than of micro- and mesoplastics

Surface microplastics in the Kara Sea: from the Kara Gate to the 83°N

Despite ongoing research into microplastics pollution in the Arctic Ocean, the region remains underexplored. In the Eurasian Arctic studies mainly focus on the Barents Sea, while there are only limited and variable data from few stations in the Kara Sea. The study aims to perform an extensive survey of microplastics floating on the sea surface in the Kara Sea. The sampling throughout the Kara Sea was carried out using a neuston net in the August 2021 starting from the Kara Gate strait, reaching 83N latitude and ending in the north-eastern part of the Barents Sea along the border with the Kara Sea. Average abundance of microplastics was 0.124 ± 0.383 items/m3 in the Kara Sea. The Kara Gate exhibited the highest abundance of microplastics (0.93 ± 0.73 items/m3), suggesting that it is an important source of the microplastics pollution of the Kara Sea. The results suggest that the Ob and Yenisey rivers do not substantially contribute to the microplastic pollution of the Kara Sea due to significantly lower concentrations in the river plume water (0.008 ± 0.009 items/m3) compared to the other regions of the Kara Sea. Further, the river plume differs in chemical composition of microplastics dominated by expanded polystyrene (EPS) particles (52%) in contrast to other regions where the predominant polymer is polyethylene (PE) (64-77%). The study highlights the potential of the Kara Sea to accumulate the microplastics due to its semi-enclosed nature and complex interaction between inflow of waters originating from the North Atlantic and Ob-Yenisey river plume.publishedVersio