Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Modelling the Fate of Microplastics in river bed sediments.

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.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Modelling the Fate of Microplastics in river bed sediments.

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.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

The transport behaviour of microplastics in longitudinal mixing and hyporheic exchange under varied flow conditions

Researchers studied how microplastics move through river systems, examining both downstream transport and how particles interact with riverbeds through hyporheic exchange. Understanding these transport behaviors helps predict where microplastics accumulate in river sediments.

2019 DR-NTU (Nanyang Technological University)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pathways: Investigating Vertical and Horizontal Movement from Riverine Environments to Oceans

Researchers investigated the vertical and horizontal movement of microplastics in riverine systems en route to the ocean, examining how physical MP characteristics and hydrodynamic conditions govern whether particles settle near riverbeds or float at the surface, and how both gravity-driven and flow-driven transport contribute to their ultimate fate.

2025
Article Tier 2

Making waves: Unraveling microplastic deposition in rivers through the lens of sedimentary processes

Researchers examined how sedimentary processes in rivers control where microplastics are deposited and how long they remain buried. They reviewed existing work on water-sediment exchange of microplastic particles and identified key gaps in understanding deposition dynamics. The study highlights that rivers serve as major pathways for transporting microplastics from land to oceans, and that sediment processes play a critical role in determining their fate.

2024 Water Research 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing the Behavior of Microplastics in Fluvial Systems: Infiltration and Retention Dynamics in Streambed Sediments

Scientists used laboratory river-bed simulations to study how microplastics move from surface water down into streambed sediments. Smaller particles (1 micrometer) penetrated deeper into the sediment than larger ones, and higher water flow pushed more particles downward. This research helps explain how microplastics accumulate in river beds, which serve as both drinking water sources and habitats for aquatic organisms.

2024 Water Resources Research 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Rivers as Conduits: A Comprehensive Model of Microplastic Fate and Transport

This study developed a comprehensive model of microplastic fate and transport in rivers, integrating processes of erosion, resuspension, sedimentation, and burial to simulate how microplastics move through river networks toward the ocean.

2024
Article Tier 2

A numerical model of microplastic erosion, transport, and deposition for fluvial systems

Researchers developed a numerical model of microplastic erosion, transport, and deposition in river systems, finding that rivers act as temporary sinks trapping significant fractions of MPs before they reach the ocean, with implications for estimating marine MP loading from terrestrial sources.

2025 Earth Surface Dynamics 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Leveraging Sedimentary Process Insights to Enhance Understanding of Microplastic Deposition in Rivers

This review leverages insights from fluvial sediment transport research to improve understanding of how microplastics deposit and are buried in river networks, identifying knowledge gaps in water-sediment exchange processes and highlighting that current MP deposition estimates are biased by incomplete understanding of flow-sediment-particle interactions.

2025
Article Tier 2

Fate of Microplastics in Deep Gravel Riverbeds: Evidence for Direct Transfer from River Water to Groundwater

Researchers tracked microplastic particles vertically through gravel riverbeds using depth-profile sampling, finding that MPs move directly from river water into subsurface gravel sediments and onward toward groundwater, documenting a pathway for plastic particles to enter drinking water aquifers.

2025 Microplastics 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic accumulation in riverbed sediment via hyporheic exchange from headwaters to mainstems

Researchers developed a model showing that hyporheic exchange between river surface water and sediment causes long-term microplastic retention, with headwater residence times averaging 5 hours per kilometer but increasing to 7 years per kilometer during low-flow conditions.

2022 Science Advances 188 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating factors influencing microplastic mobility in sediments through visualization and experiments

Researchers used micro-CT imaging to visualize three-dimensional transport pathways of microplastics through gravel and sand sediments relevant to riverbank filtration, finding that smaller sediment pore sizes restrict microplastic mobility and that particle properties such as shape, size, and polymer density influence infiltration depth.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

A depth-resolved snapshot of microplastic abundances in riffle heads in a gravelbed river

Researchers took depth-resolved samples from gravel riverbed sediments to map how microplastics distribute vertically through streambeds. They found significant quantities at depth, suggesting that riverbeds act as long-term reservoirs of microplastic pollution rather than just transient transport pathways.

2023 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the influence of sediment motion on microplastic deposition in streambeds

This study systematically explored how sediment motion affects microplastic deposition in streambeds made of fine sediments, finding that sediment transport dynamics play a critical role in controlling where microplastics accumulate. The results improve understanding of microplastic fate in riverine systems.

2023 Water Research 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating factors influencing microplastic mobility in sediments through visualization and experiments

Researchers used micro-CT imaging to visualize three-dimensional transport pathways of microplastics through gravel and sand sediments relevant to riverbank filtration, finding that smaller sediment pore sizes restrict microplastic mobility and that particle properties such as shape, size, and polymer density influence infiltration depth.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Comprehensive review of the co-transport of microplastics and suspended sediments in aquatic environments: macroscopic transport and microscopic mechanisms

Researchers reviewed how microplastics and suspended sediments interact and travel together through rivers, lakes, and coastal waters, identifying water flow conditions, particle density, and plastic shape as key factors governing their joint migration and deposition. Understanding these co-transport dynamics is essential for predicting where microplastics accumulate and assessing their ecological risks.

2025 Environmental Sciences Europe
Article Tier 2

Bedload transport rates of microplastics on natural sediments under open channel flow: The role of exposure in acceleration

Researchers developed a new model for predicting how microplastics are transported as bedload in rivers, combining computational fluid dynamics with laboratory experiments. They found that exposed microplastics on the sediment surface move at higher transport rates than natural sediment particles of similar size, potentially spreading contamination over wider areas. The model provides a practical tool for engineers assessing how microplastic pollution disperses through waterway systems.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport processes of microplastic particles in the fluvial environment : erosion, transport and deposition

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.

2020 RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Storm Response of Fluvial Sedimentary Microplastics

Researchers investigated how storm events affect microplastic concentrations in river sediments, finding that flood conditions remobilize stored particles and significantly increase microplastic loads in fluvial systems. The study identified key physical controls on microplastic storage and transport in river channels.

2020 Scientific Reports 129 citations
Article Tier 2

A novel Eulerian-Lagrangian numerical framework to investigate microplastic transport at surface water-sediment interfaces.

Scientists created a computer model to study how tiny plastic particles (microplastics) move through riverbeds and get trapped in underwater sediments. The research found that these plastic particles mostly get stuck in shallow layers of riverbeds, especially on the upstream side of underwater hills and ridges. This matters because riverbeds act like filters that collect microplastics from our water systems, which helps us understand where these pollutants end up and how they might affect drinking water and aquatic life.

2026
Article Tier 2

Hydro-geomorphological features govern the distribution, storage, and transport processes of riverbed microplastics

This study examined how river channel shape, water flow, and sediment dynamics control where microplastics accumulate, travel, and are stored in riverbeds. Identifying these hydro-geomorphological drivers is important for predicting microplastic transport to downstream ecosystems and the ocean.

2026 Mendeley Data
Article Tier 2

Hydro-geomorphological features govern the distribution, storage, and transport processes of riverbed microplastics

This study examined how river channel shape, water flow, and sediment dynamics control where microplastics accumulate, travel, and are stored in riverbeds. Identifying these hydro-geomorphological drivers is important for predicting microplastic transport to downstream ecosystems and the ocean.

2026 Mendeley Data
Article Tier 2

Microplastic infiltration into mobile sediments

Researchers used an annular flume to simulate how microplastic particles infiltrate into sandy river sediments as bedforms migrate. They found that particle size was the most important factor determining how deep microplastics penetrated into the sediment, while bedform speed and particle density had less influence. The study reveals that smaller microplastics can be buried deeper in river sediments, making them harder to detect and potentially creating long-term contamination reservoirs.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport and retention of micro-polystyrene in coarse riverbed sediments: effects of flow velocity, particle and sediment sizes

Researchers conducted column experiments to investigate how polystyrene microplastic fragments are transported and retained in coarse riverbed sediments under different flow conditions. They found that most particles were captured in the upper 15-20 centimeters of sediment, but smaller fragments between 100-500 micrometers could penetrate to depths of at least 50 centimeters. The study suggests that riverbeds can act as both temporary sinks and long-term retention sites for microplastics, slowing their transport from streams to oceans.

2024 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 17 citations