Abstract

The seafloor covers some 70% of the Earth’s surface and has been recognised as a major sink for marine litter. Still, litter on the seafloor is the least investigated fraction of marine litter, which is not surprising as most of it lies in the deep sea, i.e. the least explored ecosystem. Although marine litter is considered a major threat for the oceans, monitoring frameworks are still being set up. This paper reviews current knowledge and methods, identifies existing needs, and points to future developments that are required to address the estimation of seafloor macrolitter. It provides background knowledge and conveys the views and thoughts of scientific experts on seafloor marine litter offering a review of monitoring and ocean modelling techniques. Knowledge gaps that need to be tackled, data needs for modelling, and data comparability and harmonisation are also discussed. In addition, it shows how research on seafloor macrolitter can inform international protection and conservation frameworks to prioritise efforts and measures against marine litter and its deleterious impacts.

Details

Title
The quest for seafloor macrolitter: a critical review of background knowledge, current methods and future prospects
Author
Canals, Miquel 1 ; Pham, Christopher K 2 ; Bergmann, Melanie 3 ; Gutow, Lars 3 ; Hanke, Georg 4 ; Erik van Sebille 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Angiolillo, Michela 6 ; Buhl-Mortensen, Lene 7 ; Cau, Alessando 8 ; Ioakeimidis, Christos 9 ; Kammann, Ulrike 10 ; Lundsten, Lonny 11 ; Papatheodorou, George 12 ; Purser, Autun 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Sanchez-Vidal, Anna 1 ; Schulz, Marcus 13 ; Vinci, Matteo 14 ; Chiba, Sanae 15 ; Galgani, François 16 ; Langenkämper, Daniel 17 ; Möller, Tiia 18 ; Nattkemper, Tim W 17 ; Ruiz, Marta 19 ; Suikkanen, Sanna 20 ; Woodall, Lucy 21 ; Fakiris, Elias 12 ; Molina Jack, Maria Eugenia 14 ; Giorgetti, Alessandra 14 

 GRC Geociències Marines, Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de l’Oceà, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain 
 Okeanos/MAR—Instituto do Mar, Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Universidade dos Açores, Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado, 9901-862 Horta, Faial, Ilhas dos Açores, Portugal 
 Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, D-27570 Bremerhaven, Germany 
 European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Via Enrico Fermi 2749, I-21027 Ispra, Italy 
 Utrecht University, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands 
 Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Area per la tutela della biodiversità, degli habitat e speciemarine protette (BIO-HBT), Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144 Roma, Italy; Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Via Po 25, 00198 Rome, Italy 
 Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 1870 Nordnes, N-5817 Bergen, Norway 
 Università di Cagliari, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’ambiente, Via Tommaso Fiorelli 1, 09126 Cagliari, Italy 
 UN Environment/Mediterranean Action Plan Coordinating Unit, Barcelona Convention Secretariat, Vas. Konstantinou 48, Athens 11635, Greece 
10  Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstr. 31, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany 
11  Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States of America 
12  Department of Geology, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece 
13  Universität Osnabrück, Fachbereich Mathematik/Informatik, Albrechtstraße 28a, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany 
14  Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), Borgo Grotta Gigante 42/c, 34010 Sgonico, Trieste, Italy 
15  Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushimacho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan 
16  IFREMER, Laboratoire LER/PAC, immeuble Agostini, ZI Furiani, 20600 Bastia, la Corse, France 
17  Biodata Mining Group, Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, PO Box 100131, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany 
18  University of Tartu, Estonian Marine Institute, Mäealuse 14, Tallinn 12618, Estonia 
19  Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, Katajanokanlaituri 6 B, FI-00160 Helsinki, Finland 
20  Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Marine Research Centre, Latokartanonkaari 11, 00790 Helsinki, Finland 
21  Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, United Kingdom 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Feb 2021
Publisher
IOP Publishing
e-ISSN
17489326
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2512981096
Copyright
© 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.