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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Infiltration of Microfibers in Sediment Beds in Moderate- to High-Turbulent Aquatic Environments
ClearInfiltration of Microfibers in Sediment Beds in Moderate- to High-Turbulent Aquatic Environments
Researchers conducted flume experiments to quantify the infiltration of microfibers into sediment beds under moderate- to high-turbulent aquatic conditions, testing eight microfiber types varying in length, diameter, and polymer type across shear rates from 10 to 20 s-1. The results demonstrate that turbulence intensity significantly drives vertical microfiber infiltration depth in sediment, contributing to microplastic accumulation in aquatic sediment ecosystems.
Shear induced remobilization of buried synthetic microfibers
Researchers used an oscillating grid device to study how buried synthetic microfibers can be remobilized from sediment beds by turbulent shear forces. They tested four common plastic fiber types in both cohesive and non-cohesive soils and found that remobilization depends on fiber properties and sediment type. The study demonstrates that microfibers deposited in aquatic sediments are not permanently trapped and can re-enter the water column during high-energy events.
Migration behaviors of microplastics in sediment-bearing turbulence: Aggregation, settlement, and resuspension
This study explored how turbulent shear flow affects microplastic aggregation with suspended sediment and the resulting vertical migration behavior. Smaller microplastics aggregated more readily with sediment particles, dramatically increasing their settlement rate and potentially causing secondary pollution when bottom sediments are resuspended by turbulence.
Entrainment and vertical mixing of aquatic microplastics in turbulent flow: The coupled role of particle size and density
Researchers conducted laboratory flume experiments to study how turbulence affects the vertical mixing and entrainment of microplastic particles of different sizes and densities. Both particle size and polymer density significantly influenced mixing behavior, with smaller and denser particles more responsive to turbulent structures, informing models of microplastic transport in rivers and coastal waters.
The role of turbulence in the deposition of intrinsically buoyant MPs
This flume study found that turbulence causes the vertical velocity of buoyant polyethylene microplastics to vary over 4 orders of magnitude compared to their rise rate in still water, explaining how lighter-than-water particles end up deposited in river and lake sediments.
Investigating Microplastic Resuspension in Environmental flows: Experimental and Numerical Approaches
Researchers used combined experimental and numerical approaches to investigate the resuspension of microplastics from sediment beds in riverine flows, finding that turbulence intensity during high-flow events plays a key role in detaching MP particles embedded in multi-density granular sediment beds.
Response of microplastic particles to turbulent flow: An experimental study
Using controlled flume experiments, researchers studied how turbulent flow conditions affect the transport and settling behavior of microplastic particles with varied shapes and densities, finding that turbulence intensity and particle morphology interacted to determine suspension and deposition patterns.
Effects of near-bed turbulence on microplastics fate and transport in streams
Computational fluid dynamics simulations were used to model near-bed turbulence and vertical hyporheic exchange in streams with different bed roughness configurations, assessing the susceptibility of four microplastic types to hyporheic infiltration. Microplastic fate in stream beds depends on the balance between downward hyporheic flux and buoyancy or settling velocity of the particles.
Synthetic microfibers driven by turbidity currents: Transition from smooth bed to macro-roughness
Using lock-exchange flume experiments, researchers studied how synthetic microfibers of different shapes and sizes are transported by turbidity currents over various bedforms. Fiber transport differed substantially from spherical microplastics due to high aspect ratios and flexibility, with bed roughness and turbidity current density strongly influencing how far fibers travel.
Sediment-Water Interfaces as Traps and Sources of Microplastic Fragments and Microfibers─Insights from Stream Flume Experiments
Researchers used controlled stream flume experiments to study how microplastic fibers and fragments settle into riverbed sediments. They found that lower water flow speeds caused faster deposition, with the effect being strongest for fibers, and that traditional settling equations significantly underestimate how microplastics actually behave near the streambed. The findings improve our understanding of where and how microplastics accumulate in rivers.
Turbulence‐Driven Clogging of Hyporheic Zones by Fine Particle Filtration
This study is not directly about microplastics; it investigates how river turbulence drives fine particle exchange between surface water and the streambed (hyporheic zones), finding that turbulence significantly accelerates particle delivery and can clog the riverbed over time. This process is relevant to understanding how microplastics might be buried and retained in river sediments.
Understanding the role of turbulence and biofilm on low density microplastic dynamics: An experimental approach towards natural conditions
Flume experiments showed that turbulence in rivers significantly increases the frequency with which buoyant low-density microplastics come into contact with bacterial biofilms on the riverbed — and that this biofilm contact, while capturing only a small percentage of passing particles, helps explain why lightweight plastics are consistently found buried in river sediments despite their tendency to float. The study reveals a two-step process: turbulence drives plastics toward the riverbed, and biofilm properties then control how many stick. This has implications for predicting where microplastics accumulate and how they move through freshwater systems.
Infiltration Behavior of Microplastic Particles with Different Densities, Sizes, and Shapes—From Glass Spheres to Natural Sediments
Laboratory column experiments showed that microplastic infiltration depth in sediment increases as particle size decreases and sediment grain size increases, with spherical particles penetrating deepest and fibers infiltrating least. The results help define appropriate sampling depths for environmental microplastic monitoring depending on sediment type.
Effects of Particle Properties on the Settling and Rise Velocities of Microplastics in Freshwater under Laboratory Conditions
Physical experiments quantified the settling and rise velocities of ~500 microplastic particles of varying shapes, sizes, and densities under controlled laboratory conditions, finding velocities ranging from 0.39 cm/s (settling polyamide fibers) to 31.4 cm/s (rising expanded polystyrene), with standard sediment transport formulas inadequate for fibers. The study provides empirical data needed to improve models of microplastic transport in rivers and lakes.
Full Rotational Dynamics of Plastic Microfibers in Turbulence
Researchers conducted experiments on the rotational dynamics of elongated plastic microfibers in turbulent conditions. The study provides new data on how these microplastic fibers spin and tumble in turbulence, which is important for understanding the motion, settling, and dispersion patterns of microplastics in ocean environments.
Scavenging of polystyrene microplastics by sediment particles in both turbulent and calm aquatic environments
Researchers found that sediment particles can scavenge polystyrene microplastics from the water column, with calm aquatic environments showing the greatest removal (42%) while turbulence reduced settling, suggesting different microplastic fate in varying hydrodynamic conditions.
Transport and Burial of Microplastics in Deep-Marine Sediments by Turbidity Currents
Researchers used flume experiments to investigate how underwater avalanches called turbidity currents transport and bury microplastics in deep-sea sediments. They discovered that microplastic fibers become preferentially trapped between settling sand grains during deposition, even though fragments are more concentrated at the base of the flow. The study suggests that these powerful ocean currents may be responsible for distributing and burying large quantities of microplastics on the seafloor.
Investigations on microplastic infiltration within natural riverbed sediments
Researchers used laboratory flume experiments to investigate how sediment grain size affects the infiltration of four types of microplastics (PET spheres, PET ellipsoids, polystyrene fragments, and polyamide fibers) into riverbed sediments. Sediment particle size, microplastic shape, and density were key factors controlling how deeply microplastics penetrate into the hyporheic zone.
The effects of stream water velocity, streambed celerity, and particle properties on microplastic deposition in streams
Researchers conducted laboratory flume experiments to examine how stream water velocity, bedform movement, and microplastic particle properties (material type PET/PP/PA and fiber length 25-200 µm) influence the deposition dynamics of microplastics in sandy streambeds, finding that bedform movement and particle characteristics significantly affected deposition rates and sediment distribution patterns.
Sediment-WaterInterfaces as Traps and Sources ofMicroplastic Fragments and MicrofibersInsights from StreamFlume Experiments
Stream flume experiments with nylon microfibers and fragments showed that sediment type and particle size strongly influence microplastic deposition rates, with a stochastic modeling approach revealing that sediment-water interfaces act as both traps and temporary sources of microplastic pollution.
Vertical transport of buoyant microplastic particles in the ocean: The role of turbulence and biofouling
Researchers modeled how turbulence and biofouling interact to determine the vertical movement of buoyant microplastic particles in the ocean. They identified three distinct flow regimes that govern whether microplastics stay at the surface, oscillate, or sink to the seafloor. The study helps explain the observation that even low-density microplastics are found in deep ocean sediments, suggesting biofouling-driven density changes are a key transport mechanism.
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.
Transport and sedimentation of microplastics by turbidity currents: Dependence on suspended sediment concentration and grain size
Researchers used laboratory experiments to study how turbidity currents, underwater flows of sediment-laden water, transport and deposit microplastics on the ocean floor. They found that higher sediment concentrations carried microplastics farther, and finer sediment grains enhanced transport distances compared to coarser ones. The findings suggest that both the properties of the sediment flow and the shape and density of microplastic particles play important roles in determining where plastics end up in marine sediments.
Suspended sediments mediate microplastic sedimentation in unidirectional flows
Researchers found that suspended sediments in water significantly increase microplastic sedimentation rates, with higher sediment concentrations driving greater downward transport of microplastics and creating differential settling patterns based on polymer type.