Fertilizing the Gyre with Plastic

No, not really.

But there something that plastic does that most micro and macro nutrients in the ocean don't do. It floats. Plastic is collecting in the North Pacific Gyre (The Great Pacific Garbage Patch) in huge quantities. There are estimates that put the plastic to biota ratio at 6 to 1. But that is not the end of it. The plastics collect organically soluble toxins to thousands of times the background concentration...Thus becoming a deadly pill for anything unlucky enough to swallow some. The Marine ecosystem is having to deal with ever smaller pieces of degrading, toxic plastic that is unprecedented in history. There may be a way to have this work to our advantage.

Floating, melting icebergs shed accumulated mineral debris into the ocean, precipitating algae blooms, and thus supporting large ecosystems. This is the key. Nutrient containing icebergs (albeit small quantities) quickly degrade and shed these nutrients into marine waters. The concentrations of these nutrients have effects for kilometers around the iceberg. They stay afloat, buoyed up by the lighter fresher water (this might be total bull, I haven't finished my GFD class yet). The nutrients stick around long enough, and at concentrations high enough, to boost the productivity. They are also at the right balance to maintain diversity. This diversity is what we want to preserve so much on this Earth, and is what is threatened so imminently.

There are micro and macro nutrients that have drifted to the bottom of the ocean in the form of sediment and "marine snow". Any given clump of the gunk has different concentrations of nutrients, depending on where you are in the ocean. Organisms would grow wonderfully if they had some kind of access to these nutrients. The problem is, they sink.

But there is a lot of plastic that floats. Combining the nutrients with the plastic could be a way that we can sustainably release nutrients into specific patches of ocean waters. Many ocean fertilization experiments have failed to do this, the nutrients sink. Coupling the concentration and balance of nutrients with the buoyancy and degradation time of the plastic could have a similar effect as a longer lasting iceberg. The buoyancy of the plastic could be controlled by the addition of air bubbles or other amendments. These other amendments could take the form of a tracking system. Since nutrients that organisms need to grow are stuck inside the plastic, this creates an evolutionary pressure for organisms to develop a metabolism that can utilize it as a carbon source.

Biofilms would eventually grow on the plastic itself. This would further regulate the nutrient gradient around the plastic. It would also inhibit it from uptaking other chemicals from the environment.

This has distinct advantages over a system supported by James Lovelock. This system utilizes large cylinders, with wave actuated valves, to pump nutrient rich waters to the surface. This has two foreseeable downsides. The deeper waters are have more CO² and thus are more acidic. This acidity could have as much a detrimental effect on marine life as the nutrients would be to the benefit of. Secondly, the waters are colder. Though having some advantages, these colder waters would alter the environment, possibly making it uninhabitable by its native forms. Utilizing degrading plastic floats do not have these problems. Changing the nutrient concentration of any waters will have other effects (just look at the dead zone). But then again, balance this with the threat of global warming. Doing nothing will be much worse than wise action.

Why the North Pacific Gyre? This mass of water is stable. If something gets into the Gyre, it stays in there for years. Experiments with phasing different balances of nutrients can be done without affecting much of the rest of the ocean. It would be easier to keep track of our degrading nutrient packages over time.

This might be crazy, but I am on my way to find out. Could this be a way to utilize the garbage in the sea to mitigate global warming? Could the abundance of biomass be utilized to fuel and feed our civilization?