Microplastic distribution in the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean through continuous underway sampling

DOI

The COntinuous MicroPlastic Automatic Sampling System (COMPASS) was utilized for sampling of microplastic (MP) samples. Developed by Aalborg University in Denmark, COMPASS is a fully enclosed, stainless-steel, plastic-free system designed for continuous, automatic MP sampling (>10 µm). It can operate unsupervised for up to 9 hours, filtering 500 to 1,500 liters of water per hour through stainless-steel filters with mesh sizes of 300 µm and 10 µm (filter diameter: 167 mm). This method provides horizontal distribution data and resolution for MPs. Depending on the length of each transect, a specific number of subsamples were collected. Sub-surface water samples were continuously sampled during steaming at a depth of 4 meters along five transects, covering 1,600 nautical miles from the Norwegian coast to Bear Island in the Arctic Ocean. MP were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared imaging micro-spectroscopy, revealing concentrations ranging from 7 to 491 items per cubic meter.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.974957
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02842-9
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.974957
Provenance
Creator Goßmann, Isabel ORCID logo; Simon-Sánchez, Laura; Meyerjürgens, Jens ORCID logo; Lorenz, Claudia ORCID logo; Arulananthan, Ashani; Wu, Fangzhu; Primpke, Sebastian ORCID logo; Gerdts, Gunnar ORCID logo; Vollertsen, Jes; Vianello, Alvise
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2025
Funding Reference Danish National Research Foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001732 Crossref Funder ID 9087-00005B Fluxes and Fate of Microplastics in Northern European Waters (FACTS); Federal Ministry of Education and Research https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Crossref Funder ID 03F0849A https://foerderportal.bund.de/foekat/jsp/SucheAction.do?actionMode=view&fkz=03F0849A Fluxes and Fate of Microplastics in Northern European Waters (FACTS); Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur https://doi.org/10.13039/501100010570 Crossref Funder ID 76251-17-5/19 Gute Küste Niedersachsen; Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur https://doi.org/10.13039/501100010570 Crossref Funder ID VWZN3685 https://uol.de/icbm/msys/aktuelle-projekte/saimidris Saimidris: Sailing Intelligent Micro Drifter Swarms; Velux Foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/100008397 Crossref Funder ID 25084 Marine Plastic; Villum Fonden https://doi.org/10.13039/100008398 Crossref Funder ID VIL58644 https://villumfonden.dk/en/projekt/neglected-defender-rethinking-biofilms-plastics The neglected defender? Rethinking biofilms on plastics
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 21692 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (3.364W, 60.753S, 19.645E, 74.528N); North Sea; Norwegian Sea
Temporal Coverage Begin 2021-06-13T10:40:37Z
Temporal Coverage End 2021-07-02T04:00:00Z