title: The abundance, composition and sources of marine debris in coastal seawaters or beaches around the northern South China Sea (China).
abstract: The abundance and composition of marine debris including floating marine debris (FMD), seafloor marine debris (SMD) and beached marine debris (BMD) were investigated in coastal seawaters/beaches around the northern South China Sea during 2009 and 2010. The FMD density was 4.947 (0.282-16.891) items/km², with plastics (44.9%) and Styrofoam (23.2%) dominating. More than 99.0% of FMD was small or medium size floating marine debris. The SMD and BMD densities of were 0.693 (0.147-5.000) and 32.82 (2.83-375.00) items/km², respectively. SMD was composed of plastics (47.0%), wood (15.2%), fabric/fiber (13.6%) and glass (12.1%), while BMD was composed of plastics (42.0%) and wood (33.7%). More than 90% of FMD, 75% of SMD and 95% of BMD were not ocean-based sources but land-based sources, mostly attributed to coastal/recreational activity, because of the effect of human activities in the areas.
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Environment Monitoring Center, State Oceanic Administration (SOA), Guangzhou 510300, PR China. samzhou2@126.com
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Chuguang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hongda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Weixu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hansheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003625:Data Collection; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012623:Seawater; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis / Q000145:classification*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000145:classification*
chemical_list: D014866:Waste Products; D014873:Water Pollutants