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From land to the Salish Sea – Towards an understanding of microplastics source, transport and fate
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Researchers investigated how microplastics travel from land-based sources through watersheds and rivers into the Salish Sea (a coastal ocean system in the Pacific Northwest), tracing their source, movement, and final resting places. Understanding these transport pathways is key to identifying where to intervene to reduce plastic pollution entering marine ecosystems.
Contamination of marine ecosystems with microplastics (particles
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From land to sea: Hydrological source tracking of microplastics in coastal sediments
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Using hydrological source tracking in Danish streams, researchers traced the inland origins of coastal sediment microplastics, finding that stream networks act as primary transport corridors and that microplastic polymer composition reflects specific upstream land uses.
Rivers Are a Highway for Microplastics into the Ocean
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This review explains how rivers transport microplastics from inland sources to the ocean, making them a critical conduit for terrestrial plastic pollution entering marine environments. The authors discuss factors affecting plastic loads in rivers and argue that upstream interventions are essential to reducing ocean plastic accumulation.
Transport processes of microplastic particles in the fluvial environment : erosion, transport and deposition
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This thesis examines how microplastics are eroded, transported, and deposited in river systems, tracing their movement from land sources to the ocean. The research fills an important gap in understanding how rivers act as conduits for microplastic pollution and what processes determine where plastic particles accumulate in freshwater environments.
Trajectory, fate, and magnitude of continental microplastic loads to the inner shelf: A case study of the world's largest coastal shallow lagoon
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Researchers modeled the continental-scale transport and eventual fate of microplastics, estimating how particles move from terrestrial sources through river systems to coastal and open ocean environments. The analysis highlights oceans as the ultimate sink for a large fraction of land-derived microplastics.
Microplastics in multiple environmental media along a land-sea continuum: Distribution, critical source areas, and management priorities from sources to sinks
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This comprehensive study tracked microplastic distribution across surface water, groundwater, and sediments throughout the Jiulong River basin in China, identifying distinct polymer patterns by media and spatial hotspots in the lower reaches. Mapping microplastic flow from terrestrial sources through river corridors to estuaries is critical for identifying intervention points where pollution control can most effectively reduce the quantity of microplastics reaching coastal marine environments and seafood.
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.