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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to From headwaters to receiving waters: river dynamics in an increasingly urban world
ClearDynamics of microplastics in urban rivers under varying hydrological regimes
Monitoring of urban rivers showed that microplastic concentrations fluctuate significantly with varying hydrological conditions such as storm events and seasonal flow changes. Understanding these dynamics is essential for accurately characterizing the river microplastic load and its variability over time.
Abundance, Distribution and Drivers of Microplastic Contaminant in Urban River Environments
Researchers surveyed microplastic distribution in urban river environments and identified key drivers of accumulation hotspots, finding that land use, hydrology, and infrastructure factors concentrated microplastics at predictable locations that could inform targeted management interventions.
The influence of flow on the amount, retention and loss of plastic pollution in an urban river
Researchers sampled both microplastics and macroplastics at four sites along an urban river in Ontario, Canada during normal flow and storm conditions. The study found that storm events significantly influence plastic transport dynamics, with flow conditions affecting how much plastic pollution is retained in or flushed through urban river systems toward downstream water bodies.
From pollution to solutions: Insights into the sources, transport and management of plastic debris in pristine and urban rivers
This review examines how river systems receive and transport plastic debris -- including both macroplastics and microplastics -- from land sources to the ocean, synthesizing evidence on pollution sources, fate, and management strategies across pristine and urban rivers.
A Snapshot on Urban River Water Characterization and Advances in Remediation Strategies for its Restoration: A Global Perspective
This review examines the state of water quality in urban rivers globally, focusing on developing countries where rapid growth is outpacing water management infrastructure. It reviews how industrial, agricultural, and domestic pollutants — including plastics — are degrading urban waterways.
Multidisciplinary analysis of microplastic dynamics: from sources to environmental fate in urban rivers during floods
Researchers conducted a multidisciplinary investigation of microplastic dynamics in urban rivers, combining flume experiments on riparian vegetation, polymer-specific quantification using PLE-Py-GC/MS, and a catchment-scale connectivity model to map land-to-river microplastic transport within the Arno basin.
The role of water management and its effect on microplastic transport and fate
Researchers examined how water management practices affect the transport and fate of microplastics in river networks, which serve as both conduits and sinks for plastic pollution. The study found that flow regulation and water management interventions significantly influence how far microplastics travel and where they accumulate.
Challenges in Simulating Pollutant Behavior in Watercourses with Diverse Ecological and Structural Features
Despite its title referencing pollutant behavior in watercourses, this paper studies computational fluid dynamics modeling of how different types of pollutants disperse in rivers with complex physical features — not microplastic pollution specifically. It examines how liquid pollutants and solid particles spread through waterways with bridges, vegetation zones, and side channels, and is only tangentially relevant to microplastics.
Revealing microplastic dynamics: the impact of precipitation and depth in urban river ecosystems
Microplastic abundance was monitored at different depths and during different precipitation events in urban rivers in Brazil, finding that rainfall significantly increases MP concentrations and that deeper water layers can carry higher loads than surface water.
Study of the influence of fluvial dynamics on the distribution and transport of microplastics.
Researchers studied how fluvial dynamics, including water flow, turbulence, and river morphology, influence microplastic distribution and transport in a river system. The study found that hydrological conditions strongly control where microplastics deposit and how they move through the watershed.
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.
Study of the influence of fluvial dynamics on the distribution and transport of microplastics.
Researchers studied how fluvial dynamics including flow velocity, turbulence, and river geomorphology influence the distribution and transport of microplastics in river systems. River hydrodynamics were found to be major determinants of where microplastics accumulate and how far they travel, with implications for predicting contamination patterns in river catchments.
The role of biofilm and hydrodynamics on the fate of microplastic particles in rivers: an experimental study
Researchers conducted experimental flume studies to investigate how biofilm formation and hydrodynamic conditions jointly govern microplastic particle fate in rivers, examining why some urbanized and industrialized river reaches show no significant upstream-to-downstream increase in microplastic concentration despite theoretical inputs.
Interconnected impacts of water resource management and climate change on microplastic pollution and riverine biocoenosis: A review by freshwater ecologists
Researchers reviewed how river hydrology, water resource management, and climate change interact to influence microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems. They found that floods can flush microplastics from catchments, while reservoirs act as both sinks and sources, and extreme weather events driven by climate change tend to concentrate microplastics and threaten aquatic organisms. The study highlights a critical gap in research that jointly addresses these interconnected factors and calls for integrated policy approaches.
The urban microplastic footprint: investigating the distribution and transport
Researchers investigated the distribution and transport of microplastics within an urban environment, mapping the 'urban microplastic footprint' to understand how city infrastructure and land use patterns drive the spatial distribution and downstream export of plastic particles to receiving water bodies.
Estimating microplastic flows across rural-urban gradients in a French catchment
Researchers estimated microplastic flows across rural-urban gradients in a French catchment, examining how land use and urbanization influence the transport and distribution of microplastic particles through the watershed system.
Sources, transport, measurement and impact of nano and microplastics in urban watersheds
This review examines what is known about nano and microplastic sources, transport pathways, transformations, and measurement challenges in urban watershed environments, identifying freshwater and terrestrial systems as critically underresearched compared to marine settings. The authors stress that most ocean plastic originates from land, making urban watershed research essential for source control.
Microplastics in urban runoff: Global occurrence and fate
This review examines global microplastic occurrence in urban runoff, finding concentrations up to 8,580 particles per liter, and highlights critical gaps in understanding microplastic mobilization, transport, and flux from urban environments to waterways.
Risk Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Urban Discharge Fraction and Eutrophication in Large European River Networks
Researchers assessed how climate change could worsen water quality in European rivers by increasing nutrient pollution from urban areas. While not focused on microplastics, this study highlights the broader environmental pressures on freshwater systems that also carry microplastic contamination.
Assessment of Micro-Plastic Contamination in Urban River Systems: A Case Study Using UK Catchment Data
This systematic review examines microplastic contamination in urban rivers across the UK, finding that wastewater treatment plants, stormwater runoff, and industrial discharge are the main sources. The research matters for human health because urban rivers supply drinking water and recreational areas, and microplastic pollution in these waterways increases the risk of human exposure.
Plastics in an urbanizing world: sustainable strategies for rivers and seas
This review examines the sources and pathways of macro- and microplastics entering rivers and seas in an urbanizing world, synthesizing evidence on secondary microplastic generation from macroplastics and evaluating sustainable management strategies including improved waste management and reduction of single-use plastics.
River plastic during floods: Amplified mobilization, limited river-scale dispersion
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.
Microplastic pollution in sophisticated urban river systems: Combined influence of land-use types and physicochemical characteristics
This study assessed microplastic pollution across an urban river network in China, finding that land-use type and water physicochemical properties jointly influence microplastic distribution, with industrial and residential areas contributing highest loads.
Distribution and transport of microplastic and fine particulate organic matter in urban streams
Researchers found that urban streams both transport and retain microplastic and fine particulate organic matter, using particle transport dynamics methods to quantify retention rates and identify streams as significant intermediary sinks in the plastic pollution pathway to oceans.