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Temporal stability of riverbank macroplastic
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Researchers examined the temporal stability of macroplastic debris on riverbanks globally, finding that local environmental conditions and transport pathways—including littering, wind, runoff, and river deposition—determine how long plastic fragments persist before remobilization or burial.
Macroplastic pollution (>0.5 cm) is prevalent on riverbanks and floodplains globally. Macroplastic can reach riverbanks via various pathways. These pathways include direct littering, overland transport by wind or surface runoff, or transport and deposition by the river. Local factors and va...
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Macroplastic fragmentation in rivers
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This review examines how large plastic debris in rivers gradually breaks apart into micro- and nanoplastics through physical abrasion, UV degradation, and biological activity, with river systems acting as long-term reservoirs and transfer pathways for plastic pollution. The authors propose a conceptual framework identifying which properties of the plastic item and which river characteristics control how quickly fragmentation occurs, finding that retention times can range from years to centuries. Understanding these fragmentation rates is essential for predicting how much secondary microplastic pollution ultimately reaches the ocean and enters food chains.
Modelling the Fate of Microplastics in river bed sediments.
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Researchers modeled microplastic transport, deposition, and burial in river bed sediments under varying hydrological conditions. River bed sediments were found to act as long-term reservoirs for microplastics, with periodic high-flow events temporarily resuspending and redistributing particles.
Macroplastic Storage and Remobilization in Rivers
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Researchers developed a conceptual model of macroplastic debris transport through fluvial systems, dividing the pathway into input, transport, storage, remobilization, and output phases and hypothesizing that natural channel dynamics control whether river systems act as net sources or sinks of plastic pollution.
River plastic during floods: Amplified mobilization, limited river-scale dispersion
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Researchers investigated plastic mobilization, transport, and retention dynamics in rivers during flood conditions, finding that high-discharge flood events amplify plastic mobilization from riverbanks and floodplains but that river-scale dispersal of that plastic remains surprisingly limited. They found that most flood-mobilized plastic is re-deposited within the river catchment rather than exported to the ocean, reinforcing the concept that rivers act as both conduits and long-term reservoirs of plastic pollution.
Modelling the Fate of Microplastics in river bed sediments.
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Researchers modeled the fate of microplastics deposited in river bed sediments, examining how hydrological conditions influence their distribution, burial, and potential for downstream transport. The models revealed that river bed sediments act as significant long-term reservoirs for microplastic pollution.
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.