Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
Published on: November 5, 2014
Unraveling the Marine Microplastic Cycle: The First Simultaneous Data Set for Air, Sea Surface Microlayer, and
Isabel Goßmann1,2, Karin Mattsson3, Martin Hassellöv3
1Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, P.O. Box 2503, Oldenburg 26111, Germany.
Abstract:
Microplastics (MP) including tire wear particles (TWP) are ubiquitous. However, their mass loads, transport, and vertical behavior in water bodies and overlying air are never studied simultaneously before. Particularly, the sea surface microlayer (SML), a ubiquitous, predominantly organic, and gelatinous film (<1 mm), is interesting since it may favor MP enrichment. In this study, a remote-controlled research catamaran simultaneously sampled air, SML, and underlying water (ULW) in Swedish fjords of variable anthropogenic impacts (urban, industrial, and rural) to fill these knowledge gaps in the marine-atmospheric MP cycle. Polymer clusters and TWP were identified and quantified with pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Air samples contained clusters of polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, and polystyrene (max 50 ng MP m-3). In water samples (max. 10.8 μg MP L-1), mainly TWP and clusters of poly(methyl methacrylate) and polyethylene terephthalate occurred. Here, TWP prevailed in the SML, while the poly(methyl methacrylate) cluster dominated the ULW. However, no general MP enrichment was observed in the SML. Elevated anthropogenic influences in urban and industrial compared to the rural fjord areas were reflected by enhanced MP levels in these areas. Vertical MP movement behavior and distribution were not only linked to polymer characteristics but also to polymer sources and environmental conditions.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Marine Microbial Ecology
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
Freshwater Microbial Ecology

