(Credit: Dr. Alan Jamieson, Newcastle University)
The last frontier is not pristine as we may wish it to be. A recent study, Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in the deepest ocean fauna, lead an expedition into the deepest trenches in the Pacific Oceans the Mariana Trench and the Kermadec. There they studied small crustaceans and there levels of man made chemicals Polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. These POP’s are from industrial accidents and discharges, leakage from landfills and incomplete incineration. Form the 1930s to the 1970s around 1.3 million tons were created. Now 65% can be found in landfill and 35% is in coastal sediment and ocean waters. This is extremely negative to the ocean creatures because these POP’s bind to organic and inorganic particles near the surface and then drop down into the depths of the ocean to the ecosystems below that are mostly scavengers living off the decaying carrion.
“The fact that we found such extraordinary levels of these pollutants really brings home the long-term, devastating impact that mankind is having on the planet,” - Alan Jamieson(Credit Chronicle Live)
The scientists trapped by using deep-sea landers that are unmanned submarines that are able to go into the extremely deep depths. In the Mariana Trench, they trapped a Hirondellea gigas and found that it contained 50x higher amounts of the POP’s then crabs living in a Chinese river next to a highly populated area. The cause? Scientists believe it’s because Mariana Trench lies beneath the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest trash vortex, which just as its name describes is a huge floating patch of trash. These POP’s also bioaccumulate, which means they build up over time.
These findings are very concerning due to the fact that at least 8 million tons of plastic are ending up in our oceans every year. Unfortunately, consumers are highly dependent on this long lasting material since its creation in 1907. Because of its longevity, it increases its damage on the environment. The leading scientist, Alan Jamieson, explains, “We still think of the deep ocean as being this remote and pristine realm, safe from human impact, but our research shows that, sadly, this could not be further from the truth.” The Mariana Trench is so deep that if Mount Everest were placed inside the summit would still be one mile below the surface. It is on of the last eco systems in the world to explore and the affects of humans seemed to have already taken a humongous negative effect.
"The deep sea has no light, very low temperatures and scarce water movements," Melanie Bergmann, co-author of the study Arctic Ocean study, The recent AWI study. "So materials just sit there and accumulate." With trash removal taking a bigger toll then leaving the trash in place, scientists are now trying to understand the further knock-on effects to how these ecosystems are going to function in the future.
For more great articles on the topic check out:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/extraordinary-levels-pollutants-found-deepest-parts-sea