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Impact of microplastic pollution on breaking waves
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This study investigated how microplastics affect the physical process of wave breaking in the ocean, which is important for air-sea gas exchange and ocean surface energy. Researchers found that microplastics collected from the North Pacific altered wave breaking behavior, suggesting plastic pollution may subtly change ocean physical processes beyond its direct biological impacts.
Abstract Anthropogenic plastic waste heavily pollutes global water systems. In particular,micron-sized plastic debris can have severe repercussions for the ocean flora and faunabut may also affect physical processes such as wave breaking, which are critical forocean-atmospheric exchange and albedo. Nevertheless, the effects of micron-sized plasticdebris on geophysical processes are widely unexplored. Herein, we investigate theeffect of microplastic collected from the North Pacific and a surfactant mimicking surfaceactive materials present in the ocean on the stability of seafoam generated bybreaking waves. We found that microplastic particles increase seafoam stability. Inparticular, an increased foam height was found in a column foaming setup, while anincreased foam area was observed in a laboratory-scale breaking wave channel. We proposethat microplastic particles assemble at the air-water interface, form aggregates, presumably decrease the liquid drainage in the liquid film, and change the film curvature.The effect of surfactants is generally larger due to their higher surface activitybut still in a range where synergistic effects can be observed. Our results suggest thatmicroplastic could manipulate oceanic processes essential for marine-atmospheric airexchange, sea spray formation, and albedo.
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Impact of microplastic pollution on breaking waves
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A systematic experimental investigation of micro- and nanoplastics aerosolization by oceanic breaking waves
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A systematic experimental study investigated how and to what extent microplastics and nanoplastics are ejected from the ocean surface into the atmosphere through sea spray and bubble bursting. The results showed that a range of particle sizes and types can be aerosolized, but the efficiency varies depending on particle properties and sea conditions. These findings help quantify a potentially significant pathway for microplastics to re-enter terrestrial environments after initially reaching the ocean.
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Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.