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Trapping of floating MP in estuaries, the importance of flocculation
Summary
Laboratory experiments showed that when microplastics enter estuaries and encounter salt water, they can become entangled in flocs — aggregates of organic particles and sediment — causing them to sink and be trapped in estuarine sediments rather than reaching the open ocean. This flocculation process in estuaries may represent a major, previously underestimated sink for river-borne microplastics. Understanding this trapping mechanism is important for accurately predicting how much plastic actually makes it from rivers to the sea.
Rivers and estuaries are major pathways of microplastic (MP) from terrestrial areas to marine ecosystems. Despite this, knowledge on the transport dynamics and fate of MPs in riverine and estuarine waters is limited, but crucial in order to mitigate the problem and to close the mass balance of plastic debris in the oceans. Via ex situ laboratory settling experiments emulating the Msimbazi River and estuary, Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, we demonstrate that flocculation and subsequent settling of positively buoyant MP (HDPE, 63-125 µm) and fine-grained suspended sediment ( Also see: https://micro2022.sciencesconf.org/426923/document