LAUSR

Abstract Between 2014 and 2016 a total of 43 microplastic samples were collected at six sampling stations in the eastern section of the Gulf of Lion (located in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea), as well as upstream of the Rhone River. Microplastics were found in every sample with highly variable concentrations and masses. Concentrations ranged from 6 · 103 items km−2 to 1 · 106 items km−2 (with an average of 112 · 103 items km−2), and mass ranged from 0.30 g km−2 to 1018 g km−2 DW (mean 61.92 ± 178.03 g km−2). The samples with the highest and lowest microplastic count originate both from the Bay of Marseille. For the Bay of Marseille, it is estimated that the total microplastic load consist of 519 · 103 –101 · 106 items weighing 0.07–118 kg. Estimations for daily microplastic transport by the Northern Current and the Rhone River, two important hydrologic features of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, range from 0.18 to 86.46 t and from 0.20 to 21.32 kg, respectively. Particles