Xinhua News Agency "Snow Dragon 2", December 25 (Reporter Liu Shiping) Marine microplastic pollution has been widely concerned by the international community. China's 36th Antarctic expedition conducted a trawl sampling operation of Marine microplastics at a section 45 degrees east longitude in the Astronaut Sea in the Southern Ocean on Sunday. It was the first time that the Antarctic expedition conducted a microplastic survey in Cosmonaut Sea and successfully obtained samples.

The icebreaker Xuelong 2, on board the expedition, lowered its speed to 2 nautical miles per hour during trawling operations in the morning. The sea was foggy, and the team slowly lowered the microplastic trawl sampler into the sea with A rear deck rack, and recovered it 15 minutes later to complete the sampling.

Ju Peng, an expedition member and associate researcher at the First Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources, told reporters that the research showed that microplastic pollution has spread to global waters and has been detected in seawater, sediment and Marine life in all areas of the sea. Chinese research teams have previously found microplastics in the Weddell Sea and Amundsen Sea in the Southern Ocean. "Through different operations, we obtained a certain amount of samples and found that microplastics are also present in this area." Ju Peng said. The Cosmonauts Sea is one of the less well understood areas of the Southern Ocean in the world, and we hope to accumulate relevant data, master their distribution characteristics and main sources, and assess their impact on the Marine environment by conducting a survey of microplastics in this area, said Cao Hunan, leader of the Antarctic expedition's oceanic team.

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