Ice coring. Photo credit: Northwest Passage Project
The potential geographic pathway and mechanism of microplastic transport into the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) is uncertain. Research suggests that the dominant water flow of the CAA is from West to East where water of Pacific origin meets waters of Atlantic origin in Lancaster Sound. Arctic Ocean sediments and sea ice are resulted to be sink for the world’s microplastic pollution. It is critical to understand by what physical ocean pathways and processes microplastics are transported into the Arctic Ocean sediment and sea ice, hence the need to investigate the microplastic occurrence within the water column. A research team, led by GSO, identified the vertical profile of microplastic abundances from the sea ice to the seabed along the Beaufort Shelf. Seawater, sea ice and seabed samples were collected during the fall of 2020 within the Arctic cruise SKQ2020-14s onboard RV Sikuliaq. The Beaufort Shelf is known for intense up- and downwelling potential and for the resuspension of deeper Beaufort Sea waters, potentially drawing microplastic sources upward from deeper Atlantic waters in the Beaufort Sea or from Alaska river meltwater downward influencing the sorting and deposition of microplastics. By communicating the snapshot physical ocean conditions of the microplastics observed throughout the water column, it is possible to help lay some insight for future studies on microplastic depositional processes between the sea ice and seabed in this significant marine mammal corridor of the Alaska Arctic.
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Geotracer Kitchen (Loose Laboratory)