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Transport and sedimentation of microplastics by turbidity currents: Dependence on suspended sediment concentration and grain size

Environment International 2025 13 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 58 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Florian Pohl Jordi Colomer, Florian Pohl Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Florian Pohl Florian Pohl Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Florian Pohl Florian Pohl Florian Pohl Marianna Soler, Teresa Serra, Jordi Colomer, Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Marianna Soler, Florian Pohl Teresa Serra, Marianna Soler, Marianna Soler, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Marianna Soler, Florian Pohl Marianna Soler, Teresa Serra, Marianna Soler, Jordi Colomer, Florian Pohl Jordi Colomer, Teresa Serra, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Jordi Colomer, Teresa Serra, Florian Pohl Jordi Colomer, Marianna Soler, Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Teresa Serra, Jordi Colomer, Teresa Serra, Florian Pohl Teresa Serra, Jordi Colomer, Florian Pohl Florian Pohl Jordi Colomer, Florian Pohl Jordi Colomer, Florian Pohl Florian Pohl Florian Pohl Florian Pohl Florian Pohl Florian Pohl

Summary

Researchers used laboratory experiments to study how turbidity currents, underwater flows of sediment-laden water, transport and deposit microplastics on the ocean floor. They found that higher sediment concentrations carried microplastics farther, and finer sediment grains enhanced transport distances compared to coarser ones. The findings suggest that both the properties of the sediment flow and the shape and density of microplastic particles play important roles in determining where plastics end up in marine sediments.

Polymers

PET PVC

Study Type Environmental

Using lock-exchange experiments, this study investigates the transport and sedimentation of microplastics (MPs) via turbidity currents. Two hypotheses were tested: MP sedimentation is influenced by suspended sediment concentration and grain size. Utilizing flows with different sediment concentrations and grain sizes in combination with three different MPs (PET fibers, melamine, and PVC fragments), the experiments revealed distinct sedimentation patterns: higher sediment concentrations enhance MP transport, and turbidity currents with finer sediments transported MPs over greater distances, highlighting the importance of sediment characteristics to predict MP distribution by such flows. Further, MP sedimentation patterns varied in dependence on MP-particle shape, size, and density, highlighting the crucial role of MP particle properties in determining MP distribution in turbidites. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms controlling the spatial distribution of MPs in marine sedimentary-environments and underscores the importance of considering both hydrodynamic and particle-specific factors when addressing the complex behaviour of MPs.

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