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How does the tidal cycle influence the estuarine dynamics of microplastics?

LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) 2025
Ravena Santiago Alves, Victória Elizabeth dos [UNIFESP] Santos, Rebeca Amon Moreira, Gabriel Chrystian Lima de Alcantara, Gabriel Chrystian Lima de Alcantara, Emanuelle Ribeiro Lima, Bárbara Pereira Paiva, Carlos Eduardo Peres Teixeira, Vasco Stascxak Neto, Alejandro Pedro Ayala, David Chelazzi, David Chelazzi, Johnny Peter Macedo Feitosa, Marcelo Coelho dos Santos Muguet Soares, Tommaso Giarrizzo, Michael Barbosa Viana

Summary

Researchers investigated how tidal cycles influence the abundance and characteristics of microplastics in an urban estuary, finding that tidal dynamics significantly affect MP transport dynamics and that estuaries serve as a major conduit for MP transfer from rivers to the ocean.

Study Type Environmental

Estuaries are the main pathway for the microplastics (MPs) to enter into the oceans. However, factors that drive river-sea transport of MPs are not yet fully understood. Therefore, our research investigated the influence of the tidal cycle on the abundance and characteristics of MPs in an urban estuary, through high-frequency sampling (every 2–3 h) using a plankton net (120 μm mesh size) in two seasons (rainy and dry seasons). The results showed that the abundance of MPs decreased during the ebb tide and increased during the flood tide. A positive correlation was found between MP abundance and water height in both seasons. The shapes and colors of MPs varied significantly throughout the tidal cycle. The results show that tides are key agents in the transfer of MPs and cannot be neglected in models of the global contribution of plastic pollution from rivers to oceans.

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