Lakes as Accumulators of Microplastics on the Way from Land to the World Ocean: Review

The purpose of the work is to summarize the currently available information concerning the mechanisms of microplastics transport and accumulation in the surface waters and to compare it with the continental seas in this regard. The article summarizes the data published in the foreign and Russian literature. The comparative analysis of the original materials received by the authors in the process of research in the Baltic Sea and the Onego Lake using identical methods of microplastics determination is presented, the results are compared. The main emphasis is on the ways and volumes of microplastics entering the continental seas and the World Ocean. A statistically higher amount of microplastics was found in the bottom sediments of the Onego Lake. Possible reasons for this difference were discussed. Fibers are the most common form of microplastics in the Baltic Sea and the Onego Lake. In the bottom sediments, fibers accumulate mainly in sedimentation zones with low hydrodynamic activity (in the Baltic Sea – on depths more than 80 m, in open part of the Onego Lake – on depths more than 40 m, in large bays – on 20 m). There is a connection between the fiber content and the parameters of the bottom sediments. The thermohaline structure affects the vertical distribution of microplastics in the water column, slowing its deposition. Lakes accumulate mainly hydrodynamically heavy particles: polymers with a high specific density, fragments, granules, films. The rate of fibers in the total pool of microplastics in lake sediments is less than in the sea. Lakes act as filters, purifying the surface waters from microplastics as they enter the continental seas and the World Ocean, and becoming their primary storage water bodies.

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