We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Investigation of dynamic change in microplastics vertical distribution patterns: The seasonal effect on vertical distribution
AI summary Read the abstract
This study combined targeted field sampling in the Bay of Marseille with numerical simulations to analyze how microplastic vertical distribution patterns in the ocean water column change seasonally, finding that wind mixing and particle buoyancy are key drivers of vertical transport.
This paper analyzes the variability of microplastics vertical distributions in the oceanic water column. Data were obtained from targeted sampling in the Bay of Marseille (France) and from a numerical simulation forced by realistic physical forcings. By fitting model and in-situ data in a simplified vertical dimension, three microplastics classes may be deduced: settling, buoyant and winter neutrally-buoyant microplastics. Buoyant microplastics are mainly concentrated at the surface but they can be mixed throughout the whole water column during episodes with strong winds and no water stratification, inducing an implicit underestimation of buoyant microplastics in surface sampling. Almost symmetrical to the distribution of buoyant microplastics, settling microplastics are mainly found at the bottom but they can sometimes reach the surface under the mixing conditions cited above. They could thus contribute to surface sampling. Winter neutrally-buoyant microplastics are more homogenously mixed during the winter but are under the stratified layers during summer.
More Papers Like This
The effect of wind mixing on the vertical distribution of buoyant plastic debris
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers modeled and measured how wind mixing affects the vertical distribution of buoyant plastic debris in the ocean, finding that turbulent mixing drives plastics below the surface and explains why surface sampling underestimates total plastic concentrations.
Sinking microplastics in the water column: simulations in the Mediterranean Sea
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers simulated the vertical dispersion of negatively buoyant microplastics in a realistic circulation model of the Mediterranean Sea, finding that sinking plastics are distributed throughout the water column by turbulence and ocean dynamics. The results help explain why deep Mediterranean sediments accumulate high microplastic concentrations.
Microplastics segregation by rise velocity at the ocean surface
AI summary Read the abstract
This study modeled the competing forces of particle buoyancy and turbulent mixing that control the vertical distribution of microplastics in the ocean surface layer, finding that particle rise velocity is the key variable that segregates plastic types and determines how they distribute relative to surface and subsurface measurements.
Sinking microplastics in the water column: simulations in the Mediterranean Sea
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers simulated the vertical dispersion and distribution of negatively buoyant microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea using a realistic circulation model, evaluating how inertia, Coriolis force, turbulence, and variable seawater density affect sinking trajectories and accumulation zones.
Elucidating the vertical transport of microplastics in the water column: A review of sampling methodologies and distributions
AI summary Read the abstract
This review synthesized sampling methodologies and findings on microplastic vertical distribution in the water column, identifying that surface trawl studies dramatically underestimate total water column burdens and that sinking behavior, biofouling, and hydrodynamic processes create complex depth-dependent distribution patterns.
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.