By now it’s well established that microplastics are a problem in the environment, even in the remotest parts of the planet. But where do different microplastics come from and how they get there, especially in the Arctic?
When two of Jacob Berg Lofthus’s friends invited him to sail to Greenland this summer, his first thought was, “Yes!”. His second thought was, “Can I do some science during the trip?” So he went to see his supervisor, Chantel Nixon, an NTNU geologist who specializes in physical geography and ice age geology. Berg Lofthus is one of Nixon’s master’s students, but is studying avalanches.
“When I decided to go on the trip, I wanted to do something else as well, because I love geology and geography,” Berg Lofthus said. “So I knocked on her door and asked if I could do some interesting research in Greenland, and she said yes.”
Nixon, as it happens, had just launched a research programme on microplastics in coastal marine sediments called COMPAS (COastal MicroPlastics – into Arctic Sediment) but with a focus on Svalbard and mainland Norway. Nixon and her graduate students are mapping microplastic sources, transport pathways and sinks in Arctic coastal environments.
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Image via Norwegian University of Science and Technology
