Marine debris represents a major threat for the environment. Plastic production is increasing exponentially and causing an unprecedented growth of plastic pollution entering the marine environment. Hence, a thorough assessment of debris accumulation areas is required to address the longstanding question about where is all the missing plastic. Most research on marine debris sinks to date has focused on oceanic gyres, the water column, seabeds and wildlife. Relatively little has focused on the potential of coastal areas as debris sinks. To address this knowledge gap, the spatial distribution of debris from the waterline to the backshore was modelled from a continental-scale dataset of coastal debris distribution from 635 surveys across Australia. Results showed that the distribution of debris is significantly correlated with oceanic and atmospheric processes (i.e. onshore Stokes drift and wind), and coastal usage for recreational activities (i.e. regional population and distance to the nearest road). Debris density and size increased from the waterline to the backshore, indicating that the backshore area represents an important debris sink, especially for larger sized items.

中文翻译：

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沿海边缘和后岸是海洋垃圾的主要汇：来自大陆尺度分析的见解

海洋垃圾对环境构成重大威胁。塑料产量呈指数级增长，导致进入海洋环境的塑料污染空前增加。因此，需要对碎片堆积区域进行彻底评估，以解决所有丢失的塑料在哪里这一长期存在的问题。迄今为止，大多数关于海洋垃圾汇的研究都集中在海洋环流、水柱、海床和野生动物上。相对较少关注沿海地区作为碎片汇的潜力。为了解决这一知识差距，从水线到后岸的碎片空间分布是根据澳大利亚 635 次调查的大陆尺度沿海碎片分布数据集建模的。结果表明，碎片的分布与海洋和大气过程（即陆上斯托克斯漂移和风）以及沿海休闲活动的使用（即区域人口和到最近道路的距离）显着相关。碎片密度和尺寸从吃水线到后岸增加，表明后岸区域是重要的碎片汇，特别是对于较大尺寸的物品。