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Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Migration behaviors of microplastics in sediment-bearing turbulence: Aggregation, settlement, and resuspension
ClearResponse 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.
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.
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.
Evidence of Microplastic Size Impact on Mobility and Transport in the Marine Environment: A Review and Synthesis of Recent Research
This review synthesized evidence on how microplastic particle size affects transport and dispersal in the marine environment, finding that size critically influences turbulent entrainment, settling velocity, and resuspension, analogous to well-established natural sediment transport dynamics.
Aggregation behavior of polyethylene microplastics in the nearshore environment: The role of particle size, environmental condition and turbulent flow
Researchers investigated how particle size, salinity, dissolved organic matter, and turbulent flow affect the aggregation behavior of polyethylene microplastics in nearshore water, finding that all factors influenced aggregation rates and aggregate structure. Understanding microplastic aggregation in estuarine environments is essential for predicting their sedimentation and biological uptake.
Infiltration of Microfibers in Sediment Beds in Moderate- to High-Turbulent Aquatic Environments
Researchers conducted flume experiments to determine how turbulence intensity drives the dynamic infiltration of microfibers into sediment beds, testing eight fiber types varying in length, diameter, and polymer type across shear rates from 10 to 20 s-1. The results show that turbulence significantly fuels vertical microfiber infiltration in aquatic sediments, contributing to deep sediment microplastic accumulation.
Sedimentation behavior of aggregated microplastics: Influence of particle size and water constituents in environmental waters
Laboratory experiments investigated how aggregation of microplastics with sediments and organic matter affects their sinking rates in water, finding that aggregate composition strongly influences settling velocity. These findings improve models predicting whether microplastics sink to the seafloor or remain suspended in the water column.
Turbulence-sediment synergy controls buoyant microplastic settling in the three gorges reservoir
Laboratory experiments showed that turbulence and sediment concentration interact synergistically to control the settling and resuspension of buoyant microplastics in water. Understanding these coupled dynamics is essential for modeling microplastic transport and deposition in rivers and coastal zones.
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.
Settling velocity of irregularly shaped microplastics under steady and dynamic flow conditions
The settling velocities of irregularly shaped microplastics were measured under both still water and dynamic flow conditions, finding that shape strongly affected settling speed and that turbulence caused non-spherical particles to orient and settle differently than spheres, with implications for predicting microplastic vertical transport in rivers and coastal waters.
The impact of riverine particles on the vertical velocities of large microplastics
This study examined how suspended sediment particles in rivers interact with larger microplastics (1-5 mm) and affect their sinking velocities, finding that heteroaggregation with riverine particles significantly alters microplastic vertical transport behavior.
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.
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.
On the vertical structure of non-buoyant plastics in turbulent transport
Researchers investigated how non-floating plastic debris moves through river-like flows and found that plastics settle in unique, complex patterns due to their irregular shapes. In low-turbulence conditions, interactions between the plastic particles and the riverbed enhanced mixing beyond what standard sediment transport models would predict. The study proposes a new equation for describing how plastics are distributed vertically in flowing water.
Experimental study on parameterizing microplastic-sediment aggregation
Researchers conducted laboratory flocculation experiments to parameterize microplastic-sediment aggregation, testing fibers, fragments, and spheres of varying sizes and densities to characterize how microplastics and sediment form flocs with enhanced settling velocity, with the goal of improving numerical transport models of microplastic fate in rivers and estuaries.
Sedimentation of microplastics interacting with sediment
Researchers conducted laboratory settling velocity experiments for 12 different microplastic types with varying shapes in both clear and turbid water, finding that the simultaneous presence of suspended sediments significantly alters MP settling behaviour in ways not captured by existing models that assume clean water conditions.
Infiltration 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.
Settling velocity of microplastics in turbulent open-channel flow
Researchers studied how microplastic particles settle in turbulent river-like flow conditions compared to still water and developed a new formula to predict their behavior. They found that turbulence altered settling velocities by as much as 26% depending on particle properties, with larger, heavier particles being less influenced by water turbulence. The findings are important for building better models of how microplastics are transported and distributed in rivers and other flowing waterways.
Role of biophysical flocculation on microplastics and sediment interactions in a microtidal estuary
Field surveys and lab experiments in a microtidal estuary found that microplastics flocculate with negatively charged clastic sediment through biophysical processes, influencing how microplastics are transported, aggregated, and deposited in estuarine environments.
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.
Parameterization of microplastic-sediment aggregation for improved fate modelling
Researchers developed parameterisation for microplastic-sediment aggregation (MSA) to improve fate modelling of microplastics in rivers and estuaries, using laboratory experiments to quantify how suspended sediment aggregation with microplastics forms larger, denser flocs with increased settling velocities. The parameterisation was incorporated into numerical transport models to better predict microplastic sinks in aquatic environments.
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.
Evaluating settling velocities of microplastics-sediment mixtures under laboratory conditions
This laboratory study investigated how microplastics behave when mixed with natural sediment particles and allowed to settle in water, finding that the combined aggregates settle at different rates than either material alone. Smaller microplastics were particularly prone to forming flocs with sediment, which can accelerate their sinking and burial in riverbeds and lake bottoms. Understanding these settling dynamics is important for predicting where microplastics accumulate in aquatic environments and how they interact with the food chain.
Impact of coagulation characteristics on the aggregation of microplastics in upper-ocean turbulence
This study investigated how coagulation conditions affect microplastic aggregation in water treatment, finding that coagulant type and dose significantly influence floc formation with plastic particles and ultimately removal efficiency.