Marine Litter on the Floor of Deep Submarine Canyons Of
Progress in Oceanography 134 (2015) 379–403 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Progress in Oceanography journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pocean Marine litter on the floor of deep submarine canyons of the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea: The role of hydrodynamic processes ⇑ Xavier Tubau a, Miquel Canals a, , Galderic Lastras a, Xavier Rayo a, Jesus Rivera b, David Amblas a a GRC Geociències Marines, Departament d’Estratigrafia, Paleontologia i Geociències Marines, Facultat de Geologia, Universitat de Barcelona, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain b Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), C/Corazón de María, 8, E-28002 Madrid, Spain article info abstract Article history: Marine litter represents a widespread type of pollution in the World’s Oceans. This study is based on Received 14 November 2014 direct observation of the seafloor by means of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives and reports litter Received in revised form 31 March 2015 abundance, type and distribution in three large submarine canyons of the NW Mediterranean Sea, namely Accepted 31 March 2015 Cap de Creus, La Fonera and Blanes canyons. Our ultimate objective is establishing the links between Available online 8 April 2015 active hydrodynamic processes and litter distribution, thus going beyond previous, essentially descriptive studies. Litter was monitored using the Liropus 2000 ROV. Litter items were identified in 24 of the 26 dives car- ried out in the study area, at depths ranging from 140 to 1731 m. Relative abundance of litter objects by type, size and apparent weight, and distribution of litter in relation to depth and canyon environments (i.e. floor and flanks) were analysed.
[Show full text]