Journal of Sea Research 188 (2022) 102269

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Journal of Sea Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/seares

Microplastic accumulation dynamics in two Mediterranean beaches with

contrasting inputs
Francisco Asensio-Montesinos a, b, Gloria Blaya-Valencia b, Hugo Corbí c,
Ana Beltrán-Sanahuja d, *, Carlos Sanz-Lázaro b, e, **
a
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cadiz, Polígono Río San Pedro s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain
b
Multidisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies (MIES), University of Alicante, P.O. Box 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain
c
Department of Earth Sciences and the Environment, University of Alicante, Apdo. Correos 99, 03080 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain
d
Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition & Food Sciences Department, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
e
Department of Ecology, University of Alicante, PO Box 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Plastic debris is becoming a growing environmental concern and microplastics (size <5 mm) are one of the most
Coastal zone important fractions due to their environmental and human potential deleterious effects. Despite the recent effort
Microplastics done on estimating their concentrations in several ecosystems, the dynamics of microplastic accumulation are
Plastic pollution
not sufficiently studied. In this work, short-and long-term microplastic accumulation dynamics have been studied
Raman spectroscopy
Sedimentary environments
on two beaches located in the Western Mediterranean with low and high anthropogenic pressure by sampling
Western Mediterranean twice per week the surface of the sediment for one month, and in-depth, respectively. As regards short-term
accumulation dynamics, no clear correlation was detected between microplastics levels and oceanographic
variables. As regards long-term accumulation dynamics, on both beaches, fibres were the predominant shape and
no clear accumulation pattern of microplastics along depth was observed. Only at the beach with high anthro­
pogenic pressure, there was a correlation between the levels of microplastics and the 125 μm fraction of the
sediment. The obtained results suggest that, in areas where there are no direct sources of pollution, the accu­
mulation dynamics of microplastics can be driven by oceanographic variables to a greater extent than areas with
direct sources of microplastics. The present study suggests that the accumulation dynamics in the long-term are
difficult to be monitored on beaches due to their high dynamism. Additionally, special care needs to be taken
when studying microplastics levels in the sediment since the shape of the microplastic can greatly affect their
accumulation.

1. Introduction
Worldwide plastic production is continuously increasing, reaching a
value of 368 million tons in 2019. The inappropriate management, once
it becomes a waste, results in the accumulation in landfills or in the
natural environment (Plastics Europe, 2020). Plastic debris constitutes
an environmental threat due to its effects on a wide variety of wildlife
(Rochman et al., 2016). The long persistence of plastic constitutes the
major issue that enhances its negative environmental and economic
consequences (Lavers et al., 2016).
The oceans constitute the major environmental compartment where
plastic accumulates, with estimates of inputs of 14 million tons of plastic
debris per year (IUCN, 2021). Beaches are one of the most studied
habitats as regards plastic pollution due to their accessibility, impor­
tance in social and economic terms (GESAMP, 2019), and since they
constitute a natural trap of this debris (Asensio-Montesinos et al., 2021).
In these areas, large progress was done in understanding the sources and
factors that affect large size plastic accumulation (Lavers et al., 2016;
Prevenios et al., 2018), being the anthropogenic pressure (Asensio-
Montesinos et al., 2021) and oceanographic conditions key drivers that
modulate its levels (Herrera et al., 2018).
Among plastic debris, microplastics (MPs; < 5 mm) constitute the
fraction with the most deleterious consequences, since they can direct
and indirectly cause toxicity since can be incorporated by organisms and

* Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author at: Multidisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies (MIES), University of Alicante, P.O. Box 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain.
E-mail addresses: ana.beltran@ua.es (A. Beltrán-Sanahuja), carsanz@ua.es (C. Sanz-Lázaro).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2022.102269
Received 6 July 2022; Received in revised form 24 August 2022; Accepted 29 August 2022
Available online 30 August 2022
1385-1101/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
F. Asensio-Montesinos et al.
transferred along the food chain (Wang et al., 2020; Smith et al., 2018).
MPs are ubiquitous (Munari et al., 2017; Brahney et al., 2020) and their
levels or abundance have been reported widely. However, their trans­
port dynamics are poorly understood (Weber and Opp, 2020), which is a
key feature to understand the patterns of MP accumulation.
Few studies have focused on the short-term dynamics of MPs at
beaches by sampling within time intervals, suggesting that the dynamics
are mainly driven by oceanographic variables. However, the number of
time intervals and the approach used precluded further conclusions
(González-Hernández et al., 2020; Carvalho et al., 2021). Exploring the
accumulation of MPs in beach sediment strata appears as a suitable
technique to study MPs long-term accumulation (Willis et al., 2017).
Few studies with different sampling procedures have used this approach
and beaches were rarely studied (Claessens et al., 2011; Turra et al.,
2014; Matsuguma et al., 2017; Willis et al., 2017; Lloret et al., 2021).
Thus, there is a large gap of information on the MPs accumulation
Fig. 1. Map location of the sampling areas along the Southeastern Spanish Mediterranean Coast. Calblanque beach, Murcia (picture on the left). Agua Amarga beach,
Alicante (picture on the right).
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Journal of Sea Research 188 (2022) 102269
dynamics at beaches and, to the best of our knowledge, no study has
combined long and short-term approaches. However, there is a need to
identify the factors that modulate the accumulation of MPs and their
acting mechanisms to advance the understanding of MPs accumulation
dynamics, which is key knowledge to define more efficient strategies
aimed at mitigating MPs pollution.
Thus, the aim of this work is to analyse the short and long-term
accumulation dynamics of MPs present in two beaches with contrast­
ing anthropogenic pressure in the Mediterranean context. For the short-
term dynamics, MPs levels at the beach surface were sampled twice per
week and correlated with the most important oceanographic variables in
MPs distribution. For the long-term dynamics, the MPs concentration
along a depth sediment gradient was monitored and correlated the levels
of MPs with the grain size of the sediment. Techniques to study short-
term or long-term accumulation of MPs have already been applied in
some studies, however, their combined application makes this study
F. Asensio-Montesinos et al.
highly innovative. It has been hypothesized that in the short-term, the
MPs levels will be mainly dependent on the oceanographic conditions
related to wind and currents, while in the long-term, the patterns of
accumulation in the sediment will decrease exponentially with depth,
being in both cases more marked in the beach suffering more anthro­
pogenic pressure.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Study area
The studied area comprises two beaches, with low (Calblanque) and
high (Agua Amarga) anthropogenic pressure, located in the Western
Mediterranean in the Southeast coast of Spain (Fig. 1).
Calblanque beach is in Murcia Province (Fig. 1) and it is included in a
protected natural area denominated “Calblanque, Monte de las Cenizas
y Peña del Águila” Regional Park since 1995. This beach is W–E oriented
and faces the Mediterranean Sea. It has practically no facilities and it is
appreciated by beachgoers for its quietness and natural features. Its
mountainous relief is composed of materials of geological and mining
interest, which together with their golden beach sand results in great
scenic beauty. The sand is composed of calcite, quartzite, siderite,
graphitic schists and iron oxides grains (Lillo-Carpio, 1989), with sizes
generally ranging from 4 to 2 Phi (63–250 μm), i.e. from very fine sand
to fine sand, according to Blott and Pye (2012) (for more details of the
sedimentological characterization, see Figs. S1–S3 in the Supplementary
Material). Throughout the year it receives few visitors compared to
other urban beaches, except in summer. Their location is far from major
contamination sources. Calblanque is about one kilometre long and it is
an open coastline about 30 m wide. During the study period, this part of
the coast was principally affected by waves that approach from SSW
with significant wave height (Hs) values between 1 and 3 m and, sec­
ondly, by less energetic and less frequent waves approaching from the
East. Due to the coastline orientation and the atmospheric pressure,
winds blow principally from the WSW to the ENE directions. The eastern
winds, blowing from the ENE direction, are originally formed over the
Mediterranean Sea (Fig. S4).
Agua Amarga beach is in Alicante Province (Fig. 1). This beach is
N–S oriented, and it is located in the Bay of Alicante, near the port and
desalination plant, between two urbanized zones. It is characterized by
rocky shore platform sectors and stretches composed of very fine sand to
coarse sand, with sizes ranging generally from 4 to 0 Phi (63–1000 μm,
according to Blott and Pye, 2012) (see Figs. S1-S3 in the Supplementary
Material for more details about sedimentological characterization).
Their location is proximate to different contamination sources such as
the city of Alicante, the port, the road and different streams. The Agua
Amarga area is more than one kilometre long and is an open and very
narrow coastline with high anthropogenic pressure during the year. It is
mainly used for fishing (angling), camping and picnicking. This beach is
close to the mouth of a wadi denominated “Barranco de las Ovejas” that
receives effluent from a wastewater treatment plant located in Alicante.
In Agua Amarga, marine litter accumulation is abundant (Asensio-
Montesinos et al., 2019), thus being classified as one of the most polluted
beaches in Alicante province (Ecologistas en Acción, 2019). In this work,
firstly this coastline was affected by waves approaching from the East
with wave height values between 1 and 2 m and, secondly, by less
frequent waves that approach from the South. The strongest winds blow
principally from the WSW to the ENE directions. Winds from the land
(W–WNW directions) affect this area more than the previous one, so it
was easy for litter to reach this beach directly from proximate inland
zones (Fig. S4).
2.2. Oceanographic data
Oceanographic data were collected from the “Puertos del Estado”
website (www.puertos.es, accessed on 14th April 2021) and
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Journal of Sea Research 188 (2022) 102269
environmental data from the “Agencia Estatal de Meteorología” website
(www.aemet.es, accessed on 15th April 2021; Fig. S4). The following
parameters were chosen: Average wind speed (m/s) and direction (0◦ N,
90◦ E), significant wave height or Hs (m), peak period or Tp (s), pre­
vailing wave direction (0◦ N, 90◦ E) and daily ambient temperature (◦ C).
All parameters are obtained from numerical models at one-hour in­
tervals from the proximate “SIMAR” points (< 5 km) to the studied
beaches, i.e. SIMAR point 2,075,091 (Murcia) and SIMAR point
2,078,099 (Alicante). Of all the oceanographic data and environmental
parameters consulted, wave height and wind speed were studied in
detail because they have the greatest influence on MPs dynamics.
2.3. Sampling
To study short-term dynamics, sediment sampling on the beach
surface was performed twice per week during a moon cycle in February
2021, resulting in 8 sampling times per beach. The two beaches were
sampled before bathing hours, approximately between 8 a.m. and 10 a.
m. Three replicates per beach were obtained at each sampling time. The
sampling distance between each replicate was approximately 10 m. A
stainless-steel vessel (100 ml) was used to collect the sand down to − 2
cm deep on the foreshore, at the high tide line of the beach. Each sample
contained about 150 g of sediment.
To study long-term dynamics, sediment sampling at depth was per­
formed using the TESS-1 suction corer (Méndez et al., 2003), which
allows extracting wet and uncompact sediment samples for laboratory
analysis (Pérez-Arlucea et al., 2005). One core per beach was collected
on the first sampling day in the central part of the beach, specifically on
the swash zone, where the sediment is wetter and more compact. A total
of 18 samples were extracted from each core down to − 90 cm, at 5 cm
intervals. Each sample contained approximately 100 g of sediment.
2.4. Microplastic analysis
Sediment samples were oven-dried at 70 ◦ C for 72 h. Organic matter
was removed using Fenton's reagent, where iron sulphate (FeSO4) is
used as a catalyst (Hurley et al., 2018). The extraction of MPs was done
using the density separation method with sodium chloride (NaCl) to
promote the buoyancy of MPs (Klein et al., 2015). To each sample, 200
ml of a salt-saturated water solution previously filtered to reduce MPs
cross-contamination was added. After that, the mixture was stirred with
a glass stick for 1 min and left to decant for 24 h. The resulting solution
was then vacuum filtered with glass fibre filters with a pore size of 1.2
μm (Frisenette ApS, Knebel, Denmark). The density separation process was
repeated twice. This type of MPs extraction procedure is very useful for
low-density polymers but is not the most appropriate technique for high-
density polymers (Constant et al., 2021). Three new glass fibre filters
were used as environmental controls in the laboratory, to prevent and
observe potential plastic contamination of sediment by microfibres
(Woodall et al., 2015). Non-plastic materials were used during sample
handling. To limit cross-contamination, during the whole process of MPs
extraction and identification, environmental contamination of the
samples was minimized by covering all openings containing samples or
filters with aluminium foil, keeping the windows of the laboratory
closed and wearing 100% cotton coats.
2.5. Microplastic identification
All filters, including the controls, were examined using a stereomi­
croscope (Motic, model SMZ-143-N2LED). During visual sampling
analysis, empty glass fibre filters or controls were placed next to the
stereomicroscope to account for atmospheric fallout. Each observed
particle was labelled and photographed (HAYEAR, model HY-500B,
China) at 40× magnification. In addition, some physical characteristics
such as colour and shape (e.g. fibre, film, fragment, pellet, foam) were
recorded. Those particles with similar characteristics that facilitated
F. Asensio-Montesinos et al.
their classification (colour, shape, texture, transparency, etc.) were
grouped. Within each group, a representative number of particles were
analysed using Raman spectroscopy (Jasco, model NSR 5100, Japan)
with the Spectra Manager software from Jasco Corporation. The following
parameters were used: laser wavelength = 784.79 nm; objective = 20 ×
magnification; laser power = 3.1 mW; laser exposure time = 20 s;
accumulation for spectra averaging = 10; centre wavenumber =
1050.54 cm− 1. Raman spectra were measured with a resolution of about
3.25 cm− 1 in the ranges of 104–1844 cm− 1. For the identification of MPs
throughout Raman spectroscopy, the Open Specy Library
(https://wincowger.shinyapps.io/OpenSpecy/, accessed on October 2021)
was used, and single identifications were correlated above 70% with
reference polymers from the database, additionally checking that the
peaks of both spectra were coincident. For high degraded particles, the
database SLoPP and SLoPP-E (Munno et al., 2020) was used.
2.6. Granulometric analysis of sediments
Samples were first washed with distilled water to remove the salt
concentration and then dried at 70 ◦ C for 72 h. Particle size distribution
was performed through dry sieving using 8, 4, 2, 1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125, and
0.063 mm sieves. The granulometric analysis was performed with the
particle size analysis free software Gradistat (v9.1). Statistical parame­
ters (mean, sorting, skewness, kurtosis, mode and D50) were calculated
in metric and Phi units, according to Folk and Ward's descriptive terms,
and the sediment characterization data were plotted on a cumulative
curve to observe the dispersion of the samples using Folk and Ward
graphical methods (Blott and Pye, 2001).
2.7. Data analysis
The level of MPs present in Calblanque and Agua Amarga was
compared by using a two-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) data
analysis. The data were analysed taking into consideration the factor
beach (fixed; treatments: Calblanque and Agua Amarga), and the factor
day (random; treatments: eight samplings), nested at beach.
For short-term dynamics, the relationship between the levels of MPs
in surface sediments and the oceanographic variables (i.e. wave height
and wind speed of the previous day of each corresponding sampling)
was assessed using the Pearson correlation.
For long-term dynamics, the trends of the levels of MPs along beach
sediment depth were analysed by adjusting the data to the best-fitted
regression models using the Akaike information criterion (AICc). In
addition, the correlation between the levels of MPs and sediment size
distribution about fine fractions (i.e. 250, 125 and 63 μm) were assessed
using the Pearson correlation.
For all univariate analyses, normality and homogeneity of variance
were previously checked using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Bartlett's
tests, respectively. If data did not meet the assumptions, a Sqrt (x + 1)
transformation was applied. Statistical analyses were performed with
the R statistical software (v. 3.5.1) using packages “AICcmodavg” and
“stringr” (R Core Team, 2019). All statistical analyses were conducted
with a significance level of α = 0.05. Data were reported as mean ±
standard error (SE).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Levels and characterization of microplastics
Raman analysis confirmed the presence of particles composed of
different plastic materials in which polyester, acrylonitrile, high and
low-density polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl alcohol
(PVA), acrylic, viscose/rayon, polypropylene (PP), silicone (poly­
sulfone), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyamide (PA) and nitrile rubber
were found. In some cases, the results of the Raman analysis of the
particles indicated the presence of mixtures of materials and or high
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Journal of Sea Research 188 (2022) 102269
degradation. Other particles were identified as minerals (e.g. zoisite,
chlormayenite, iron disulphide, etc.), which in some cases are colourant
components. No background contamination was observed in the quan­
tification of MPs, evidenced by the absence of MPs in controls.
In the sediment surface, at Calblanque, the bulk of MPs particles
were foam (55%), followed by fibres (27%), pellets (11%) and fragments
(7%, Fig. 2), and mainly composed of PS (98%) and PE (2%), that were
mainly white (65%), but also blue (22%), black (5%), red (4%), pink
(3%) and yellow (1%). In relation to Agua Amarga, the majority of MPs
found were represented principally by fibres (76%), followed by frag­
ments (21%), films (2%) and pellets (1%, Fig. 2), and their spectra were
identified such as acrylonitrile (65%), PVA (17%), PE (16%), polyester
(1%), and other materials that represent 1% of the total such as PP, PS,
acrylic, PA, PVC, and viscose/rayon, which were mainly black (60%),
but also red (16%), blue (15%), white (5%), green (3%) and yellow (1%,
Fig. S5). On the sediment surface, the overall mean level of MPs during
all the sampling days was significantly higher (p < 0.001) at Agua
Amarga (71 ± 7.1 MPs kg− 1) than at Calblanque (22.8 ± 3.8 MPs kg− 1)
ranging from 47.9 to 100 and 6 to 43.9 MPs kg− 1 dry weight, respec­
tively (Fig. 3a; Fig. S6; Table S1).
The type of MPs buried in the beach sediments generally differed
from those found on the surface. In Calblanque, MPs were mainly fibres
(95%), but also fragments (3%) and films (2%, Fig. 2) mainly composed
of PE (80%) and PVC (20%), which were mainly blue (70%), but also
black (22%), red (5%) and grey (3%). In Agua Amarga, only fibres were
observed (Fig. 2), mainly composed of acrylonitrile (67%) and PVA
(33%), which were mainly black and red, respectively (Fig. S5). Aver­
aging all the sampled strata of the sediment, the levels of MPs were
notably lower in both Calblanque (2.6 × 10− 5 MPs kg− 1 or 0.026 ±
0.007 MPs g− 1, Fig. 3b) and Agua Amarga (5 × 10− 6 MPs kg− 1 or 0.005
± 0.002 MPs g− 1, Fig. 3b) than in the sediment surface ranging from
zero to 72.5 MPs kg− 1 (0–0.072 MPs g− 1) and from zero to 169 MPs kg− 1
(0–0.169 MPs g− 1), respectively (Fig. 3a).
The identified materials are frequently used polymers, (e.g. PP, PE,
PS, PVA…), including materials that are components of more complex
materials, such as acrylonitrile, which is commonly used in industry to
produce plastics, synthetic fibres, resins and acrylic. The high levels of
PS identified in Calblanque agree with other studies (Abidli et al., 2018;
Rahman et al., 2020; Scherer et al., 2020). Since the predominant shape
of the particles was foam, many of the PS particles are expected to come
out from the breakdown of foam packing boxes and buoys (Aytan et al.,
2019). In relation to Agua Amarga, the main shape of the particles found
was fibre, which can be made of polyester, acrylonitrile, PE and PP
among other polymers, which can be related to the proximity of a
wastewater treatment effluent in which fibres are the main type of
exported MPs (Toumi et al., 2019; Hernández-Arenas et al., 2021),
mainly coming from the washing of synthetic clothes (Scopetani et al.,
2021). On the other hand, PVA is largely used in the packaging industry,
PVC is common in pipe systems from agriculture and building, while PE
is used in the manufacture of many objects such as toys, bags, clothes
pegs, caps/lids, string and cord, etc. (Asensio-Montesinos et al., 2020;
Plastics Europe, 2020). The rest of the artificial particles identified in
Agua Amarga can be related to some common examples, e.g. silicone has
a wide use, while polyester and viscose/rayon are related to clothing
(Harris, 2020).
The reported levels of MPs on the surface are within the range
(Chouchene et al., 2021; Phuong et al., 2018); low (Akkajit et al., 2021)
and high (Korez et al., 2019) compared to previous studies, indicating a
medium level of MPs. The reported levels of MPs in the sediment depth
are generally lower than in other areas (Claessens et al., 2011; Matsu­
guma et al., 2017; Willis et al., 2017).
3.2. Short-term microplastic dynamics
The levels of MPs along the sampling times showed a lower vari­
ability at Calblanque than at Agua Amarga (Fig. 4). The maximum
F. Asensio-Montesinos et al.
Fig. 2. The shape of microplastics on the beach surface and buried in the sediment.
standard error recorded at Calblanque was observed in the third sam­
pling, which recorded 42 ± 16 MPs kg− 1, while at Agua Amarga the
maximum standard error was shown in the sixth sampling, recording 93
± 41 MPs kg− 1 (Fig. 4).
During the study period in Agua Amarga beach, no clear correlation
between MPs and oceanographic variables was detected (p-values =
0.56 and 0.42, Table S2). Environmental factors (e.g. coastal orienta­
tion, maximum tide height, currents, wind speed and direction, signif­
icant wave height, sea storms, etc.) have a relevant influence on marine
litter distribution (Eriksson et al., 2013; Herrera et al., 2018; Asensio-
Montesinos et al., 2021). However, in relation to MPs, it is very difficult
to find a clear relationship observing that only wind effects and waves
play an important role in MPs distribution across marine currents (Van
Sebille et al., 2019; Herrera et al., 2018) in combination with local
factors such as beach orientation (González-Hernández et al., 2020). In
Agua Amarga, the high anthropogenic pressure, i.e. the pollution sour­
ces near the sampling area such as housing, industry, sewage treatment
plant, beach users, etc., could mask the influence of the oceanographic
parameters. This could be explained by the reduced size and weight of
MPs, which could limit the effects of oceanographic parameters linked to
wind and waves on the transport and accumulation dynamics for these
types of particles (Yano et al., 2021), especially with the presence of
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Journal of Sea Research 188 (2022) 102269
pollution sources such as the case of Agua Amarga.
In Calblanque beach, positive correlations (r close to 0.7) were found
between the levels of MPs and oceanographic variables, but these cor­
relations were not significant (p-values = 0.06 and 0.07, Table S2). The
wave height and wind speed considered were those of the previous day,
as they gave the best results for the interpretation of the data. These
results suggest that some relationship could be seen between the levels
of MPs present on the beach and the environmental conditions prior to
sampling. However, confirming this relationship is difficult, as some
authors reported that MPs levels are highly variable on small temporal
scales (Carvalho et al., 2021). In fact, oceanographic variables are
driving forces influencing the distribution of MPs and little has been
informed about their importance in marine science (Kim et al., 2015).
Some studies have shown that rain can affect the accumulation of MPs
on beaches, transferring these from land sources (Rios-Mendoza et al.,
2021). However, the areas investigated in this work were not influenced
by significant rains during or before the study period.
3.3. Long-term microplastic dynamics
The levels of MPs along the sediment depth followed were scattered
without a clear trend. No MPs were detected at − 10, − 25 and − 60 cm at
F. Asensio-Montesinos et al. Journal of Sea Research 188 (2022) 102269

Fig. 3. The level of microplastics (MPs kg− 1) per beach. a) Superficial sediments (n = 24) and b) deep sediments (n = 18).

Fig. 4. The levels of microplastics at the beach surface were obtained from 8 surveys and environmental parameters of wind and waves per day during the study
period at Calblanque and Agua Amarga.

Calblanque; and no MPs were detected at − 15, − 20 and − 35 and below
− 55 cm of depth at Agua Amarga (Fig. 5). The levels of MPs along depth
did not fit any of the models tested (first-degree polynomial, second-
degree polynomial and exponential model).
Previous studies in other habitats such as salt marshes, estuaries and
subtidal areas, have found an expected exponentially increasing levels of
MPs with decreasing depth in the sediment (Lloret et al., 2021; Matsu­
guma et al., 2017; Willis et al., 2017; De Ruijter et al., 2019), while in the
Brazilian beaches this trend was not observed, being the distribution
influenced by oceanographic processes (Turra et al., 2014). These out­
comes could be explained because in places where there are no major
erosional events, such as estuaries, the depth profile of MP accumulation
is expected to be preserved. However, beaches are very dynamic envi­
ronments, resulting in a stratification that does not follow a continuous
timeline of sediment deposition. For this reason, beaches may not be a
suitable environment to study the accumulation trends of MPs in the last
decades.
At Calblanque, no relationship between sediment size and MP levels
(Fig. 5) was found since due to the sediment samples were composed by
materials of the similar size distribution (Figs. S2 and S3). At Agua
Amarga, the levels of MPs along depth were positively correlated with
the 125-μm sediment fraction. The 125-μm fraction is one of the most
important in coastal sediments, as it separates fine sand (0.125–0.25
mm) from very fine sand (0.0625–0.125 mm). In the rest of the fractions

6
F. Asensio-Montesinos et al. Journal of Sea Research 188 (2022) 102269

Fig. 5. The levels of microplastics buried in the sediment of Calblanque and Agua Amarga. The representative percentage of the 250, 125 and 63 μm fractions have
been plotted.

7
F. Asensio-Montesinos et al.
studied on each beach, no clear relationship was detected (Fig. 5 and
Table S2). Thus, to some extent, the accumulation of MPs in beach
sediment may be influenced by the grain size of the sediment (Ling et al.,
2017). However, there is no clear agreement on the role of grain size in
the modulating, specifically MPs fibres levels. Some studies were not
able to find them (Mathalon and Hill, 2014; Nor and Obbard, 2014; Peng
et al., 2017; Alves and Figueiredo, 2019), while others found positive
correlations with different fractions, i.e. between MPs with fine sedi­
ments (Ling et al., 2017, 63 μm; Enders et al., 2019, 16 and 250 μm). The
dominant shape of MPs in the sediment strata was fibres. The shape of
the MPs is expected to be a key parameter in the capacity of the sediment
to retain them, as the ratio area: volume can vary notably. Accordingly,
fibres are expected to be retained to a larger extent than pellets (Rillig
et al., 2019), which agrees with our results being fibres were the pre­
dominant shape of MP found. Thus, the levels of plastic in the sediment
may be influenced by its shape and special care needs to be taken when
studying MP accumulation in sediment strata. Finally, MP typology can
be related to land uses (Tziourrou et al., 2019), for this reason, more
investigation comparing sites with different contrasting inputs and/or
land uses could be a response to MPs accumulation dynamics in some
specific beaches.
4. Conclusions
The results suggest that in areas where there are no point sources of
MPs in the vicinity, the accumulation dynamics of MPs can be driven by
oceanographic variables to a greater extent than in areas with direct
sources of MPs, in which the discharge rate of the point source could be
more relevant. The present study suggests that the accumulation dy­
namics in the long-term are difficult to be monitored on beaches due to
their high dynamism. Due to the limitations of the density separation
technique used, the results of this paper would be especially focused on
low-density MPs. Additionally, special care needs to be taken when
studying MPs levels in the sediment since the shape of the MPs can
greatly affect their accumulation. Further research is needed to test the
generality of the obtained results and increase our knowledge of the
accumulation dynamics of MPs, which is a key to help in the designing of
better strategies to fight against plastic pollution.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Biodiversity Foundation of the
Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge from
Spain [FBIOMARINA19-01]. Special thanks go to Nuria Casado-Coy and
Clara Nuber for their technical support in the laboratory. The authors
would also like to thank Irene Alejo (University of Vigo) for her advice
with the TESS-1 suction corer.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.seares.2022.102269.
8
Journal of Sea Research 188 (2022) 102269
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