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Historical behaviors of microplastic in estuarine and riverine reservoir sediment
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Researchers examined how microplastics accumulate in sediment cores from the Yalu River Estuary and an upstream reservoir in China, revealing distinct deposition patterns between the two environments. The reservoir sediments contained more plastic fragments, while estuarine samples showed greater color variation. The study suggests that microplastic sedimentation behaviors differ significantly between riverine and estuarine habitats, reflecting different pollution sources and transport mechanisms.
This study investigates the sedimentation behaviors of microplastics (MPs) within a typical meso-scale river estuary, the Yalu River Estuary (YRE) and its riverine reservoir. It analyzes sediment cores in two habitats of Yalu River, revealing changing MPs abundance over time. Results highlight significant differences in riverine and estuarine MPs deposition. Reservoir sample contains more MPs in fragments. Color variations are notable in estuarine samples but minimal in reservoir sample. After 1980, estuarine cores show an increase in coarser MPs, likely due to growth of aquaculture activities. Although sediment accumulates at 1/10 of the rate in reservoir compared to estuary, MPs in reservoir sediments exceeds estuarine level by over threefold. A possible mechanistic framework is then proposed to discuss the varying MPs behaviors in the two habitats, indicating reservoirs accumulate MPs at a higher rate due to the barrier effect of an upper-stream reservoir, stable hydrodynamics, and weak salinity-induced buoyancy.
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