Sources, spatial distribution and characteristics of marine litter along the west coast of Qatar

Veerasingam, S.; Al-Khayat, Jassim A.; Aboobacker, V.M.; Hamza, Shafeeq; Vethamony, P.

Sources, spatial distribution and characteristics of marine litter along the west coast of Qatar

2020

Veerasingam, S. | Al-Khayat, Jassim A. | Aboobacker, V.M. | Hamza, Shafeeq | Vethamony, P.

The spatial distribution, sources and characteristics of marine litter (ML) from 36 locations spread over 12 beaches along the west coast of Qatar have been assessed. A total of 2376 ML items with varying sizes were found with an average abundance of 1.98 items/m². The order of abundance of ML along the coast was as follows: plastics (71.4%) > metal (9.3%) > glass (5.1%) > paper (4.4%) > fabric (4.0%) > rubber (3.9%) > processed wood (2.0%). Locations in the south and northwest coasts of Qatar had significantly higher concentrations of ML. Surprisingly, nearly 47% of the beached polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles were derived from the countries bordering the Arabian/Persian Gulf (Gulf), and most of them were produced in the last 2 years. The plastic materials were drifted by winds and currents to the Qatar coast. Gulf circulation provides evidence to the pathways of ML beached on the Qatar coast.

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