0
Article ? AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button. Tier 2 ? Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence. Environmental Sources Sign in to save

Transport model: microplastic in Lake Baikal

28th International Symposium on Atmospheric and Ocean Optics: Atmospheric Physics 2022
Elena Tsvetova

Summary

Researchers used a three-dimensional computer model to simulate how microplastics move through Lake Baikal under different current and wind scenarios. The model showed that particles can spread widely across the lake depending on the season and entry point, helping predict where microplastics accumulate in this ecologically critical freshwater body.

With the help of a transport model, the issues of the distribution of neutrally floating particles simulating microplastic (MP) in Lake Baikal are studied. A three-dimensional model of the lake hydro-thermodynamics in the non-hydrostatic formulation is used to produce the fields of currents and the other necessary parameters for the transport model. To give generality to the conclusions, we use a set of parameters that are conditionally combined into hypothetical scenarios. In them, we design the "climatic" scenarios of external influences, in accordance to which the fields of currents and temperature in the hydrodynamic model are calculated. Depending of the goals of the study, we also formulate the specific tasks for giving the impurity sources in the transport model. The results of calculations are presented, in which some possible locations of an increased concentration of impurities in the lake were revealed.

Share this paper