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Accumulation, transformation and transport of microplastics in estuarine fronts
Summary
This perspective paper discusses how estuarine fronts act as convergence zones that accumulate and transform microplastics before they enter the open ocean. The authors argue that frontal systems enhance fragmentation, aggregation, and biological interactions of microplastics, making them important but underexplored features in marine plastic transport.
Million tons of riverine plastic waste, numerically dominated by microplastics, annually enter the ocean via estuaries. Featured by strong horizontal convergence, estuarine fronts, ubiquitous coastal features, plausibly accumulate, transform and further involve microplastics into diverse processes, but have received limited attention. In this Perspective, we discuss the accumulation potential of microplastics and its subsequent interactions with physical-biological-geochemicalprocesses at estuarine fronts. Microplastics fragmentation and transformation could be enhanced within frontal systems due to strong turbulence and interactions with sediment and biological particles, thus intensifying potential impacts on ecological and biogeochemical processes. The concurrent accumulation of microplastics and biota at fronts provides a unique chance to assess microplastics risks at high concentrations, a likely common scenario in future ocean. Transdisciplinary efforts in the mechanics of plastic dispersal, accumulation and fate in frontal zones will advance the knowledge of riverine microplastics fate, favoring the developments of mitigation policies, strategies and techniques.