Lagrangian studies in the Western Mediterranean Sea

In a study conducted by Baudena et al, Nature Communications 2022, it was found that one of the major pathways for a significant quantity of microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea is located in the north of Mallorca. This point is of great interest as it allows us to focus efforts in this area and conduct cleanup campaigns to collect a higher quantity of microplastics with fewer resources. In this study, we made certain approximations to simulate the behavior of plastic particles in the ocean. One of them was we consider that these are floating particles, therefore, these do not sink, thus allowing us to make the trajectory of the particle on the surface of the ocean. We integrated
backward trajectories during two different seasons of the year, winter and summer, to identify the regions from which microplastic particles passing through the north of Mallorca originate. We conducted this analysis during two different seasons to determine if there were any seasonal
variations.