Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Weathering processes typically restrict the distance spilled oil travels to a few hundred kilometers in the ocean. Leveraging oiled marine debris as "drifters of opportunity", we tested the hypothesis of the unprecedented long-range (thousands of kilometers) transequatorial transport of oil adhered to marine debris by surface currents. Dispersion modeling backed by historical drift bottle experiments supported the plausibility for this hypothesis, and molecular forensics provided the definitive evidence proving it. Oil carried by marine debris arriving at Palm Beach, Florida in 2020 matched oil from the 2019 Brazil mystery oil spill, having traveled ∼8500 km in ∼240 days. We demonstrate an additive contaminant effect whereby plastic pollution facilitates the long-range transport of oil pollution. These findings underscore that regional inputs into the global ocean can have transboundary impacts.
Authors: Bryan D. James, Luis E. A. Bezerra, Diane Buhler, Rivelino M. Cavalcante, Martha L. Aguilera, Bing Chen, Jonas Gros, Ulrich M. Hanke, Karin L. Lemkau, Robert K. Nelson, Sydney F. Niles, André H. B. de Oliveira, Thomas D. Pitchford, Jagoš R. Radović, Ryan P. Rodgers, Marcelo O. Soares, Scott A. Socolofsky, Roger E. Summons, Robert F. Swarthout, Carlos E. P. Teixeira, David L. Valentine, Helen K. White, Min Yang, Eliete Zanardi-Lamardo, Baiyu Zhang, Christopher M. Reddy
Institutions: Northeastern University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Florida State University, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Western Washington University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, Institut des Sciences Analytiques et de Physico-Chimie pour l'Environnement et les Matériaux, University of Houston, Texas A&M University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Appalachian State University, University of California, Santa Barbara, Haverford College, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
Language: English
Subfield: Pollution
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Funders: National Science Foundation, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Division of Materials Research, Division of Ocean Sciences, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Awards: G1019936685, G1116889547, G1571619139, G1815410027, G1987310937, G2766969459, G2823776494, Collaborative Research: Chemical and microbiological studies of water-soluble alkanes in the ocean, G2884737052, G2884770519, G2987959916, G4141256202, G4500430254, G4516102215, G4837687351, G5433749333, G5626891303, G5752159476, G6928427909, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Renewal 2023-2027, G742574937, G8152425740, G8813593663
OpenAlex ID: W7118459985