About This Project

The deep sea is recognized as a hotspot for microplastic accumulation. While we are beginning to understand how microplastics accumulate in deep ocean sediments, few studies have investigated microplastic accumulation within organisms at vents and seeps. Access to a unique archive of biological samples provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to establish a baseline for microplastic accumulation in hydrothermal vent and methane seep species.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Microplastics are now ubiquitous in the world's oceans. Though they have been found in the tissues of shallow water species and isolated from deep-sea sediment, only a few studies have investigated the extent to which microplastics have accumulated in the tissues of deep sea macrofauna, especially those associated with hydrothermal vents and methane seeps. These ecosystems are not only deep, dark, and diverse, but rely on chemosynthesis for primary production.

We have a unique opportunity to examine an archive of deep-sea animals collected from hydrothermal vents and methane seeps around the world between 2007 and 2020. These samples were preserved for molecular studies and are suitable for the type of destructive sampling necessary to extract microplastics from tissue.

What is the significance of this project?

Do microplastics accumulate in species that derive their food from the chemical energy in the plume of a hydrothermal vent? Does microplastic accumulation differ among non-chemosynthetic species associated with vents and seeps? Do patterns of microplastic accumulation vary among distinct deep-sea ecosystems and the general abyssal plane?

This pilot study would represent the first attempt to develop a baseline assessment of microplastic accumulation in animals from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and seeps. This baseline could help provide insight into the extent of microplastic contamination throughout the ocean biosphere, as well as across ecosystems and organisms with vastly different feeding strategies.

What are the goals of the project?

Our objective is to establish a baseline for microplastic accumulation in deep-sea macrofauna from hydrothermal vents and methane seeps. Using an archive of deep-sea samples, we will digest select organisms, including but not limited to gastropods, polychaetes and arthropods that have been fixed in ethanol, in a solution of KOH or other appropriate base. Once comprehensively digested, microplastics will be isolated from the solution and quantified using standard and fluorescent microscopy.

With little literature on the extent to which microplastic uptake occurs in species from these rare ecosystems, this baseline will enable us to better understand patterns of microplastic accumulation in the deep sea.