Ocean currents are sweeping microplastics into the deep sea

By Donna Lu

Kane et al. (2020)

Deep underwater currents are creating large build-ups of microplastics in biologically rich areas on the sea floor.

Ian Kane at the University of Manchester in the UK and his colleagues analysed the effect of slow-moving currents on the accumulation of microplastics – fragments and fibres less than one millimetre in size.

Looking at currents in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the western coast of Italy, the team found that microplastics aggregate in biodiversity hotspots at concentrations of up to 1.9 million pieces per square metre.

Bottom currents, which generally occur …