Abundance and ecological implications of microplastic debris in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
Abstract
Plastic pollution in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG), dubbed the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," has been the subject of substantial public concern. However, there is relatively limited scientific understanding of how microplastic affects pelagic ecosystems. The motivation for this dissertation is to provide scientific information on the extent and impact of microplastic in the NPSG. The dissertation is organized around two central questions : 1) What are the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of plastic microdebris in the NPSG? 2) What is the impact of this microplastic on the neustonic zooplankton and plastic-associated rafting communities?. I documented widespread, though spatially and temporally variable, plastic pollution in the NPSG and adjacent water masses. The numerical majority of objects are small particles, but the majority of debris surface area is found in large objects. While plastic was highly variable on the submesoscale, an analysis of all available data showed that overall NPSG microplastic concentrations increased by two orders of magnitude between 1972-1988 and 1999-2010. I performed a laboratory weathering experiment on plastic pre-production pellets that suggested that changes in microplastic composition over the eastern North Pacific may be explained by differential rates of weathering between plastic types, and that carbonyl formation may be a proxy for the length of time a plastic object has weathered in the ocean. Microplastic…
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