Investigating the Sources, Abundance and Types of Microplastics in the Arctic, 2018
Microplastics pollution has been found across the globe, but with limited information from the polar regions. Although there is evidence of microplastics in the Arctic and Antarctic, little is understood about the sources, fate and extent of contamination. We collected samples and will quantify the amount and identify the types of microplastics in snow (as a surrogate for air), water, sediments and zooplankton sampled from the CCGS Amundsen in and around the Hudson Bay and/or the central and eastern Canadian Archipelago. In addition, we will answer questions about sources and fate using two types of information. First, we will collaborate with an Indigenous community to quantify and type plastic along their shoreline. Second, we will examine patterns of microplastics contamination and compare them with land-use patterns and water and air circulation. Based on previous studies, and our preliminary findings, we believe that microplastics will be present in Arctic samples, but a detailed study will help us better understand how ubiquitous microplastics are, from where they are derived, and how they are preserved or degraded. Microplastics in the Arctic raise concerns about impacts to wildlife and local communities that rely on food from the sea. Results from this study will inform future experiments that answer questions related to such impacts.
Simple
- Date (Publication)
- 2018-03-15
- Other citation details
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Unpublished Data
- Purpose
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To collect snow, water, sediment and zooplankton in the Canadian Arctic for microplastics to assess the presence and extent of contamination.
- Status
- Under development
Canadian Cryospheric Information Network
-Polar Data Catalogue
200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo
,Waterloo
,Ontario
,N2L 3G1
,Canada
polardata.ca
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Polar Data Catalogue Thesaurus (Canada)
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Arctic Ocean
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Canadian Arctic Archipelago
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Contaminants
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Sediments
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Snow
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Water
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Zooplankton
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- Place
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Nunavut and North West Territories
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- Access constraints
- Other restrictions
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
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Terms of Use of the Polar Data Catalogue: https://www.polardata.ca/pdcinput/public/termsofuse
- Metadata language
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eng; CAN
- Topic category
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- Environment
))
- Begin date
- 2018-06-01
- End date
- 2018-10-31
- Supplemental Information
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Summary: Not Applicable Research Program(s): ArcticNet,NCP. For further information: liisa.jantunen@canada.ca liisa.jantunen@canada.ca
- Distribution format
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Digital file
(1.0
)
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Canadian Cryospheric Information Network
-Polar Data Catalogue
200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo
,Waterloo
,Ontario
,N2L 3G1
,Canada
- Included with dataset
- No
- File identifier
- a3696d5b-06f2-46eb-8276-66416714e7df XML
- Metadata language
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eng; CAN
- Character set
- UTF8
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Date stamp
- 2022-04-08T12:58:29
- Metadata standard name
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North American Profile of ISO 19115:2003
- Metadata standard version
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2009-01-01
Canadian Cryospheric Information Network
-Polar Data Catalogue
200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo
,Waterloo
,Ontario
,N2L 3G1
,Canada
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