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Estuarine Particles Simulations: the Connection Between Delaware Bay and Offshore Wind Lease Areas
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A particle tracking model simulated the movement of 3,650 microplastic-like particles from Delaware Bay over one year, finding that 92% did not enter offshore wind lease areas after 180 days. However, all 26 nearby wind lease areas were reached by some particles, raising questions about microplastic impacts on artificial reef ecosystems at wind farm bases.
The issue of microplastics is becoming increasingly severe; meanwhile, there is a surge in the construction of offshore wind farms. The base of wind turbines can act as artificial reefs, playing a positive role in facilitating the proliferation of a variety of marine organisms and the establishment of ecosystems. However, the potential impact of microplastics from estuaries on the ecosystems within wind farms is concerning. In this study, we use the particle tracking model ROMSPath to perform a simulation tracking the trajectories of 3650 particles over a year to reveal the connectivity from Delaware Bay to offshore wind lease areas located in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. The results suggest that 92% of the particles released from Delaware Bay did not remain in any wind lease areas after 180 days. A total of 26 wind lease areas were reached by the particles, with the area hosting the highest percentage capturing up to 41% of the particles. The particles were released from the Delaware River near Wilmington, DE and it took a minimum of 54 days for them to reach the wind lease area nearest to the bay mouth. The average residence time of the particles ranges from 0.14 to 6.5 days, indicating it would be reasonable to assume a particular impact from estuarine outflow on the wind lease area ecosystems. This study provides a reference for understanding estuarine particles' dispersion and migration patterns entering offshore wind development zones.
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Researchers sampled microplastic concentrations in Delaware Bay and used high-resolution numerical modelling to simulate transport of buoyant particles driven by tides, wind, and freshwater inputs, finding average concentrations of 0.19-1.24 pieces/m3 with higher values in the upper bay near the estuarine turbidity maximum. Model results predicted that buoyant microplastic distributions become highly patchy within hours and can vary by a factor of 1000 within a single tidal cycle.
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Researchers mapped the distribution of microplastics in the Delaware River Estuary and used hydrodynamic modeling to understand how water currents transport these particles. They found that microplastic concentrations varied significantly across the estuary, with higher levels near urban and industrial areas. The study demonstrates that river and tidal dynamics play a major role in determining where microplastic pollution accumulates.
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Researchers built a computer model linking land and river processes to ocean currents to track how microplastics move through the Delaware River Basin to the bay. The model found that bay water circulation traps some microplastics rather than letting them flow to the ocean, and that land features like hills and city layout affect how long plastics stay on land before washing away.
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Researchers modeled how wind forcing affects the movement and distribution of microplastics in a sensitive coastal water area, finding that wind-driven surface currents are a dominant control on where microplastics accumulate. The model predicts substantial wind-driven concentration at specific coastal zones.
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