Origin and driving mechanisms of marine litter in the shelf- incised Motril, Carchuna, and Calahonda canyons (northern Alboran Sea)
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Cerrillo Escoriza, Javier; Lobo, Francisco José; Puga Bernabeu, Ángel; Murillo, Yelvana; López Quirós, Adrián; Pérez Asensio, José NoelEditorial
Frontiers Media
Materia
Submarine canyons Marine litter Seafloor imagery Litter hotspots Marine litter- habitats interaction Fishing gear Fishing effort Alboran Sea
Fecha
2023-02-24Referencia bibliográfica
Cerrillo-Escoriza J, Lobo FJ, Puga-Bernabéu A, Rueda JL, Bárcenas P, Sánchez-Guillamón O, Serna Quintero JM, Pérez Gil JL, Murillo Y, Caballero-Herrera JA, López-Quirós A, Mendes I and Pérez-Asensio JN (2023) Origin and driving mechanisms of marine litter in the shelf-incised Motril, Carchuna, and Calahonda canyons (northern Alboran Sea). Front. Mar. Sci. 10:1098927. [doi: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1098927]
Patrocinador
Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Spanish goverment CTM2017-88237-P; Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (MICINN) Spanish Government PID2021-125489OB-I00; Cerrillo-Escoriza's PhD project - MCIN/AEI PRE2018-084812; FSE Invierte en tu futuroResumen
Introduction and methods: Marine litter density, distribution and potential
sources, and the impact on canyon seafloor habitats were investigated in the
Motril, Carchuna and Calahonda canyons, located along the northern margin of
the Alboran Sea. During the ALSSOMAR-S2S oceanographic survey carried out in
2019, canyon floor imagery was collected by a Remotely Operated Vehicle along
5 km in the Motril Canyon, 10 km in the Carchuna Canyon, and 3 km in
Calahonda Canyon, together with 41 surficial sediment samples. Additionally,
coastal uses, maritime traffic and fishing activity data were analyzed. A 50 m
resolution multibeam bathymetry served as base map.
Results: In the Motril and Calahonda canyons, the density of marine litter was low
and the material was dispersed, very degraded and partially buried. In contrast,
the Carchuna Canyon contained a greater amount and variety of litter. The
Carchuna Canyon thalweg exhibited a density of marine litter up to 8.66
items·100 m -1 , and litter hotspots with a density of up to 42 items·m 2 are
found along the upper reaches of the canyon thalweg.
Discussion: Low litter abundances found in the studied canyons most likely
reflect low population densities and the absence of direct connections with
streams in the nearby coasts. The high shelf incision of the Carchuna Canyon and
its proximity to the coastline favor littoral sediment remobilization and capture as
well as the formation of gravity flows that transport the marine litter along the
thalweg toward the distal termination of the channel. Litter hotspots are favored
by the canyon morphology and the occurrence of rocky outcrops. Most debris is
of coastal origin and related to beach occupation and agricultural practices in the adjacent coastal plain. A third origin was represented by fishing gear in the study
area. Fishing activity may be producing an impact through physical damage to
the skeletons of the colonial scleractinians located in the walls of the Carchuna
Canyon. In contrast, the Motril and Calahonda canyons can be considered
passive systems that have mainly acted as depositional sinks in the recent past,
as evidenced by buried marine litter.