Distribution characteristics of microplastics in surface waters in the western Pacific Ocean

Cheng HUO; Shoufeng ZHANG; Ling QU; Shuaichen JIN; Cijia WANG; Xiaoting CHU; Maowei JU

doi:10.1007/s00343-025-3288-0

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Distribution characteristics of microplastics in surface waters in the western Pacific Ocean

Micro- and nano-plastics in marine environments | Updated：2025-03-21

- Distribution characteristics of microplastics in surface waters in the western Pacific Ocean
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Vol. 43, Issue 2, Pages: 492-501(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian 116023, China
- Author bio：
  
  mwju@nmemc.org.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s00343-025-3288-0
  CLC：
- Received：28 December 2023，
  
  Published：01 March 2025
- Accepted：
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HUO Cheng,ZHANG Shoufeng,QU Ling,et al.Distribution characteristics of microplastics in surface waters in the western Pacific Ocean[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(02):492-501.
DOI：

HUO Cheng,ZHANG Shoufeng,QU Ling,et al.Distribution characteristics of microplastics in surface waters in the western Pacific Ocean[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(02):492-501. DOI： 10.1007/s00343-025-3288-0.

摘要

Abstract

Microplastic contamination is considered a major threat to the marine environment. Although microplastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean has been studied

its abundance

distribution

composition

and origin in the western Pacific Ocean remain unclear. Here

we investigated the abundance and distribution characteristics of microplastics in surface waters of the western Pacific Ocean and analyzed their potential sources. Results show that microplastics were widespread in the western Pacific Ocean

with abundance ranging from 0.03 to 2.36 particles/m

(average 0.37±0.47 particles/m

). Fibers/filaments and fragments were the main shapes of microplastics (71.6%) and the most abundant microplastic size class was

1.0 mm (42.4%). Significant differences in microplastic abundance were observed in different regions

with the lowest abundance in the South China Sea (0.03 particles/m

) and highest abundance in the seamount area in the western Pacific Ocean (0.58 particles/m

). This study provides baseline data and insights into the fate and transportation of microplastics in the western Pacific region.

关键词

Keywords

references

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