Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6357807 | Marine Pollution Bulletin | 2014 | 11 Pages |
â¢Results from a large-scale survey of Mediterranean floating debris are reported.â¢AMD densities ranged from 0 to 162.1 items/km2 (mean 24.9 items/km2).â¢NMD densities ranged from 0 to 117 items/km2 (mean 6.9 items/km2).â¢78% of all objects were of anthropogenic origin (plastic, styrofoam and others).â¢More than 62 million litter items are now floating on the whole Mediterranean Sea.
Results from the first large-scale survey of floating natural (NMD) and anthropogenic (AMD) debris (>2Â cm) in the central and western part of the Mediterranean Sea are reported. Floating debris was found throughout the entire study area with densities ranging from 0 to 194.6Â items/km2 and mean abundances of 24.9 AMD items/km2 and 6.9 NMD items/km2 across all surveyed locations. On the whole, 78% of all sighted objects were of anthropogenic origin, 95.6% of which were petrochemical derivatives (i.e. plastic and styrofoam). Maximum AMD densities (>52Â items/km2) were found in the Adriatic Sea and in the Algerian basin, while the lowest densities (<6.3Â items/km2) were observed in the Central Tyrrhenian and in the Sicilian Sea. All the other areas had mean densities ranging from 10.9 to 30.7Â items/km2. According to our calculations, more than 62 million macro-litter items are currently floating on the surface of the whole Mediterranean basin.