Mystery of The Ocean's Missing Plastic a Step Closer to Being Solved

Mystery of The Ocean's Missing Plastic a Step Closer to Being Solved

Think of ocean plastic and you may picture bottles and bags bobbing on the waves, slowly drifting out to sea. Yet the reality is more complex and far more persistent.

Even if we stopped all plastic pollution today, our new research shows that fragments of buoyant plastic would continue to pollute the ocean's surface for more than a century.

These fragments break down slowly, releasing microplastics that sink through the water column at a glacial pace. The result is a "natural conveyor belt" of pollution that links the surface to the deep sea.

Our new study set out to understand what happens to large pieces of floating plastic once they enter the ocean.

We developed a computer model to simulate how these plastics degrade, fragment, and interact with the sticky suspended particles known as "marine snow," which help transport matter to the seafloor.

Related: Atlantic Ocean's Nanoplastic Problem Revealed in Shocking New Study

Author summary: New research sheds light on ocean plastic pollution.

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ScienceAlert ScienceAlert — 2025-10-27

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