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Andersen, Regitze; Harsaae, Astrid Louise; Kellner, Antonia; Smyth, Abigail; Rosenkrantz Westermann, Tia Amalie: Microplastic particle characteristics during Manta trawls in the North and South Atlantic Ocean with Bark Europa in Autumn 2021 [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.975087 (dataset in review)

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Abstract:
The study aimed to collect and analyze microplastic samples from the surface waters of the North and South Atlantic Oceans, conducted onboard the Bark Europa, a traditional three-masted, square-rigged Barque. The data was collected in autumn 2021 over 17 trawl locations across the Atlantic Ocean from Scheveningen (the Netherlands) to Montevideo (Uruguay). Surface water samples were collected using a Manta trawl (mouth area: 40.5 cm², mesh size: 500 µm; cod end: 333 µm), towed for 30 minutes at each sampling, meanwhile monitoring of environmental conditions such as sea state, wind speed, and salinity was done. Three samples were collected at each site, except for one location where a trawl was discarded due to technical issues. The trawls were monitored and adjusted to ensure smooth sampling outside the vessel's wake zone. Microplastic samples collected during the study were processed using a series of stacked sieves (5 mm, 1mm, 0.3mm) and rinsed with filtered fresh water. For particles with largest dimension bigger than 1 mm, visual identification was done, however could not be done reliably for those particles smaller than 1 mm. For all particles, chemical purification and stereoscopy was done onboard, followed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in the laboratory to identify the polymer types of the microplastics. Cross-contamination was minimized through procedural blanks and careful equipment handling. The microplastic particles collected were categorized by shape (film, foam, fragment, line, microfiber, microbead, industrial pellet).
Keyword(s):
Atlantic Ocean; ATR-FTIR spectroscopy; Comprehensive transect; Floating microplastic; Manta trawl; marine litter; Microplastic
Related to:
Andersen, Regitze; Harsaae, Astrid Louise; Kellner, Antonia; Smyth, Abigail; Rosenkrantz Westermann, Tia Amalie; Green, Mattias; Vollertsen, Jes; Syberg, Kristian; Lorenz, Claudia (2024): Abundance, distribution and characteristics of microplastics in the North and South Atlantic Ocean. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 209, 117217, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117217
Harsaae, Astrid Louise; Andersen, Regitze; Kellner, Antonia; Smyth, Abigail; Rosenkrantz Westermann, Tia Amalie: Oceanographic conditions during Manta trawls in the North and South Atlantic Ocean with Bark Europa in Autumn 2021 [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.975022
Coverage:
Median Latitude: 7.492174 * Median Longitude: -26.622130 * South-bound Latitude: -35.062680 * West-bound Longitude: -54.662520 * North-bound Latitude: 50.123250 * East-bound Longitude: -3.165570
Date/Time Start: 2021-09-10T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2021-11-08T00:00:00
Minimum DEPTH, water: 0.1 m * Maximum DEPTH, water: 0.1 m
Event(s):
BarkEuropa_2021_1A * Latitude Start: 50.123250 * Longitude Start: -3.165570 * Latitude End: 50.113500 * Longitude End: -3.198670 * Date/Time Start: 2021-09-10T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2021-09-10T00:00:00 * Location: English Channel * Campaign: BarkEuropa_2021 * Basis: Bark Europa * Method/Device: Manta trawl (MTR) * Comment: 30 min trawl duration
BarkEuropa_2021_1B * Latitude Start: 50.111050 * Longitude Start: -3.206830 * Latitude End: 50.099900 * Longitude End: -3.243350 * Date/Time Start: 2021-09-10T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2021-09-10T00:00:00 * Location: English Channel * Campaign: BarkEuropa_2021 * Basis: Bark Europa * Method/Device: Manta trawl (MTR) * Comment: 30 min trawl duration
BarkEuropa_2021_2A * Latitude Start: 47.798670 * Longitude Start: -6.399230 * Latitude End: 47.786400 * Longitude End: -6.430480 * Date/Time Start: 2021-09-12T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2021-09-12T00:00:00 * Location: Bay of Biscay * Campaign: BarkEuropa_2021 * Basis: Bark Europa * Method/Device: Manta trawl (MTR) * Comment: 28 min trawl duration
Parameter(s):
#NameShort NameUnitPrincipal InvestigatorMethod/DeviceComment
1Event labelEventAndersen, Regitze
2Latitude of eventLatitudeAndersen, Regitze
3Longitude of eventLongitudeAndersen, Regitze
4Date/Time of eventDate/TimeAndersen, Regitze
5Location of eventLocationAndersen, Regitze
6DEPTH, waterDepth watermAndersen, RegitzeGeocode
7Date/Time, sample preparationDate/Time prepAndersen, Regitze
8IdentificationIDAndersen, Regitzesample ID
9IdentificationIDAndersen, Regitzeparticle ID
10Color descriptionColor descAndersen, Regitze
11CategoryCatAndersen, Regitze
12Sample massSamp mgAndersen, RegitzeWeighted
13Microplastic particle, sizeMicroplastic part sizeµmAndersen, Regitzemeasurement 1
14Microplastic particle, sizeMicroplastic part sizeµmAndersen, Regitzemeasurement 2
15Microplastic particle, volumeMicroplastic part volmm3Andersen, Regitze
16Microplastic particle, massMicroplastic part mµgAndersen, RegitzeCalculated
17Method commentMethod commAndersen, Regitzephoto
18PolymerPolymerAndersen, Regitzeclassification
19PolymerPolymerAndersen, RegitzeAttenuated Total Reflection – Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR)ATR-FTIR
20FractionFractionAndersen, RegitzeAttenuated Total Reflection – Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR)ATR-FTIR (%) for similarity to the polymer type
21CommentCommentAndersen, Regitze
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0) (License comes into effect after moratorium ends)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
16731 data points

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