Long-Range Transport of Oil by Marine Plastic Debris: Evidence from an 8500 km Journey
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
- Baiyu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3615-3979)
- Jonas Gros (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2237-9168)
- Luís E. A. Bezerra
- Karin L. Lemkau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6440-5774)
- Robert F. Swarthout (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4040-4240)
- R. C. Rodgers
- C. S. Teixeira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8733-9020)
- David L. Valentine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5914-9107)
- Zanardi‐Lamardo Eliete
- Roger E. Summons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7144-8537)
- Ulrich M. Hanke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4270-225X)
- Jagoš R. Radović (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6015-6416)
- Sydney F. Niles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3487-6612)
- Helen K. White (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9428-992X)
- Christopher M. Reddy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7814-2071)
- Bingxu Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9945-9747)
- Mo Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5449-9957)
- Marcelo Soares
- Thomas D. Pitchford
- Diane Buhler
- Martha L. Aguilera
- Scott Socolofsky
- André H. B. de Oliveira
- Robert K. Nelson
- Rivelino M. Cavalcante
- Bryan D. James
Institutions
- Florida State University (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Memorial University of Newfoundland (CA)
- Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (FR)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Haverford College (US)
- Universidade Federal do Ceará (BR)
- Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (BR)
- Mitchell Institute (US)
- Friends United (US)
- Universidad del Mar (CL)
- Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IT)
- University of Petroleum (ID)
- CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion (CN)
- Memorial (RU)
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US)
- Appalachian State University (US)
- University of Houston (US)
- Western Washington University (US)
- University of Zadar (HR)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (US)
- Universidad del Noreste (MX)
- Texas A&M University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Published
- 2026-01-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c14571
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Oil Spill Detection and Mitigation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 18.32