Microplastics pollution in sediments of the Thames and Medway estuaries, UK: Organic matter associations and predominance of polyethylene.

Microplastics at 10 sites along a 77 km transect of the river Thames estuary (UK) and 5 sites along 29 km of the Medway estuary were separated from sediment and analysed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Microplastics were observed at all sites. Highest Thames concentrations were in urban London between Chelsea and West Thurrock (average 170.

Carbon isotope alteration during the thermal maturation of non-flowering plant species representative of those found within the geological record.

Rationale: The carbon isotope (δ C value) composition of fossil plant material is routinely used as a proxy of past climate and environment change. However, palaeoclimate interpretation requires assumptions about the stability of δ C values in plant material during its decomposition and incorporation into sediments. Previous work on modern angiosperm species shows δ C changes of several per mille during simulated decomposition experiments.