Impact of climate change to sedimentation processes and microplastics gradients: a case study in a semi-closed deep ocean system, Lemnos basin, Greece


Δημοσιευμένα: Ιουν 2, 2025
Γεωργία Κουσίδου
Christos Tsabaris
Filothei Pappa
Effrosyni Androulakaki
Gerasimos Korres
Evangelia Krassakopoulou
Περίληψη
The marine environment has undergone substantial changes in recent decades, due to by-products that cause pollution and end up to the marine systems mainly from the coastal zone and the drainage basins.
The purpose of this work is to study environmental changes and contamination during the last century, taking into account sediment analysis as the final recipient of discharged matter at a semi-closed marine system. From the basin of Lemnos, at a depth of 1550 m, two sediment cores were sampled and analyzed, by applying gamma-ray spectrometry for radionuclides measurement and density separation/microscopic inspection for microplastic particles determination. The sedimentation rate was determined using the vertical profiles of 210Pbex methods and validated via 137Cs measurements. The ratio of 226Ra/228Ra activity concentrations was less than unity demonstrating that the main mechanism that takes place in terms of sediment dynamics is accumulation/accretion process. The microplastic particles’ concentrations were measured and correlated with the increased water supply of the rivers flowing into the North Aegean, combined by the production of dense water masses. The data were also interpretred according to the impacts of climate change.such as the increase of the seawater surface temperature, the increase of the frequency of deep water formation and the increase of the sedimentation rate during the last ecades due to extreme weather events.
Λεπτομέρειες άρθρου
  • Ενότητα
  • Oral contributions
Αναφορές
J. Zalasiewicz, et al., Anthropocene 13, 4 (2016); doi: 10.1016/j.ancene.2016.01.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2016.01.002
F.K. Pappa, et al., Env. Sci. Poll. Res. 25, 30084 (2018); doi: 10.1007/s11356-018-2984-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2984-0
G. Eleftheriou, et al., J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 316, 655 (2018); doi: 10.1007/s10967-018-5802-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-5802-8
C. Tsabaris, et al., J. Env. Rad. 132, 47 (2014); doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.01.015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.01.015
Z.J. Dai, et al., Env. Earth Sci. 62, 1629 (2011); doi: 10.1007/s12665-010-0647-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-010-0647-7
V. Zervakis and D. Georgopoulos, Med. Mar. Sci. 3, 7 (2002); doi: 10.12681/mms.254 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.254
G. Eleftheriou, et al., Appl. Rad. Isot. 206, 111234 (2024); doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2024.111234 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2024.111234
G. Hanke, et al., Publications Office of the European Union (2013); url: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/111111111/30681
R. Geyer, et al., Sci. Adv. 3, 1700782 (2017); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1700782 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782
J. Martin, et al., Sci. Tot. Env. 806, 150818 (2022); doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150818 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150818
D. Velaoras, et al., The Physical Characteristics and Dynamics of the Aegean Water Masses. In: Anagnostou, C.L., Kostianoy, A.G., Mariolakos, I.D., Panayotidis, P., Soilemezidou, M., Tsaltas, G. (eds) The Aegean Sea Environment. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 127. Springer, Cham; doi: 10.1007/698_2020_730 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2020_730
Mediterranean Sea - High Resolution L4 Sea Surface Temperature Reprocessed. E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (CMEMS). Marine Data Store (MDS); doi: 10.48670/moi-00173