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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Transport and accumulation of plastic litter in submarine canyons—The role of gravity flows
ClearPlastic pollution in deep seafloor of the South China Sea
Researchers documented the abundance, distribution, and transport of plastics in the South China Sea using over 100 manned submersible dives combined with video analysis, finding that large plastics concentrate in canyon geomorphological units while microplastics predominate in coastal sediments via distinct transport mechanisms.
The combined role of near-bed currents and sub-seafloor processes in the transport and pervasive burial of microplastics in submarine canyons
Researchers studied how near-bed currents and sub-seafloor processes interact in submarine canyons to transport microplastics to deep-sea sediments, finding that canyon systems record temporal trends in plastic pollution but that physical disturbance can obscure or rework the depositional signal.
Turbidity currents regulate the transport and settling of microplastics in a deep-sea submarine canyon
Researchers used sediment trap observations in Gaoping Canyon offshore Taiwan to study how turbidity currents transport and deposit microplastics in the deep sea. They found that turbidity current events significantly increased both microplastic abundance and settling flux, demonstrating that these underwater flows act as major conduits for moving plastic pollution into deep ocean environments. The study provides direct evidence that submarine canyons accumulate high microplastic concentrations partly because of the frequent turbidity currents that channel particles from shallow to deep waters.
Large volumes of microplastics are transported to the deep sea by turbidity currents
Researchers provided the first direct field-scale evidence that turbidity currents in submarine canyons transport large volumes of microplastics including microfibers into the deep sea, demonstrating this mechanism as a major pathway delivering anthropogenic particles to deep seafloor environments.
Microplastic transport, deposition and burial in seafloor sediments by turbidity currents
This conference abstract describes how turbidity currents — underwater avalanches of sediment-laden water — can transport microplastics from submarine canyon heads to deep seafloor basins, creating localized hotspots of plastic accumulation. This mechanism may explain why deep-sea sediments contain some of the highest microplastic concentrations measured anywhere on Earth.
Distribution and controlling factors of microplastics in surface sediments of typical deep-sea geomorphological units in the northern South China Sea
Researchers collected surface sediments from typical deep-sea geomorphological units — sand dunes, sediment drifts, and submarine canyon channels and levees — in the northern South China Sea to examine how sedimentary dynamic conditions control the distribution of microplastics in deep-sea environments.
Direct Evidence That Microplastics Are Transported to the Deep Sea by Turbidity Currents
Researchers provided the first direct field evidence that underwater sediment avalanches, called turbidity currents, transport microplastics from shallow waters into the deep sea through submarine canyons. By monitoring water flow and sampling the seafloor, they confirmed that these natural events carry significant quantities of microfibers and plastic fragments to deep ocean environments. The discovery helps explain how microplastic pollution reaches even the most remote parts of the ocean floor.
A transport mechanism for deep-sea microplastics: Hydroplaning of clay-laden sediment gravity flows
Researchers used laboratory flume experiments to show that clay-laden sediment gravity flows can transport microplastics to deep-sea environments via hydroplaning, a mechanism distinct from sand-laden flows and capable of carrying particles much further into the ocean interior.
Untangling microfibres: Pervasive plastic pollution in submarine canyons
Researchers analyzed sediment push-cores from the Whittard Canyon, UK, to examine microplastic and microfibre transport and burial in submarine environments, finding that microplastic pollution is pervasive even 500 m above the canyon thalweg and that sub-seafloor processes obscure any temporal signal of historical plastic production.
Microplastics in turbidity currents: transport and sedimentation
Researchers investigated the transport and sedimentation behavior of microplastics within turbidity currents, examining how these high-density submarine sediment gravity flows carry MP particles from continental shelves to deep-sea environments and what controls where MPs ultimately deposit.
Sedimentary Characteristics of Microplastics Transported by Turbidity Currents in a Straight Canyon Topography
Physical model experiments revealed that ocean turbidity currents — sediment-laden underwater flows — transport and deposit microplastics in predictable patterns within submarine canyons, with higher-concentration flows retaining more particles and depositing them preferentially in wave-shaped seafloor areas. This understanding helps predict where microplastics accumulate in the deep sea, which matters for assessing long-term ecological impacts in some of the ocean's most remote and poorly studied habitats.
Transport and Fluxes of Microplastics to Deep-Sea Sediments via Turbidity Currents through the Congo Canyon
Researchers directly measured microplastics transported by turbidity currents through the Congo Canyon using real-time monitoring instrumentation, providing the first empirical dataset on how these submarine sediment flows — among the longest and most powerful on Earth — deliver terrestrial microplastics to deep-sea sediments.
Supplemental Material: Turbidity currents regulate the transport and settling of microplastics in a deep-sea submarine canyon
This study provides supplemental materials and methods for research examining how turbidity currents regulate the transport and settling of microplastics in a deep-sea submarine canyon.
Supplemental Material: Turbidity currents regulate the transport and settling of microplastics in a deep-sea submarine canyon
This study provides supplemental materials and methods for research examining how turbidity currents regulate the transport and settling of microplastics in a deep-sea submarine canyon.
Deep-sea microplastics aging and migration exerted by seamount topography and biotopes in the subtropic Northwest Pacific Ocean
This study investigated how seamount topography influences the aging and vertical migration of microplastics in the deep sea, finding that seamount-induced flow patterns promote particle sinking and accumulation of aged microplastics in benthic zones. The work highlights deep-sea seamounts as hotspots for microplastic deposition.
Influence of the summer deep-sea circulations on passive drifts among the submarine canyons in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea
This oceanography study used particle tracking models to simulate how deep-sea currents in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea connect submarine canyons during summer circulation. While focused on ocean dynamics broadly, such models are used to understand how microplastics accumulate in deep-sea canyon environments.
Avalanches of Microplastics Carry Pollution into the Deep Sea
Researchers observed submarine avalanche-like sediment flows transporting microplastics from shallow coastal areas into the deep sea, confirming a previously theorized mechanism for the vertical redistribution of surface microplastic pollution into deep ocean environments. The findings have significant implications for understanding the long-term fate and accumulation of microplastics in deep-sea ecosystems.
Fate of microplastics in deep-sea sediments and its influencing factors: Evidence from the Eastern Indian Ocean
Surface sediments from 26 sites in the deep basin of the Eastern Indian Ocean were analyzed for microplastics, finding concentrations ranging widely and influenced by water depth, distance from land, and ocean current patterns. The study extends deep-sea microplastic monitoring to the Indian Ocean and identifies oceanographic transport as a key control on plastic distribution.
Distribution of microplastics in bathyal- to hadal-depth sediments and transport process along the deep-sea canyon and the Kuroshio Extension in the Northwest Pacific
Researchers mapped microplastic distribution from shallow to ultra-deep ocean sediments in the Northwest Pacific, including Sagami Bay and areas beneath the Kuroshio Extension current. The study found the highest microplastic concentrations in abyssal stations and suggests two distinct transport pathways: land-sourced microplastics move to hadal depths via turbidity currents along submarine canyons, while ocean-surface microplastics sink directly to the abyssal plains below.
The vertical distribution and biological transport of marine microplastics across the epipelagic and mesopelagic water column
Remotely operated vehicles and custom samplers were used to collect microplastics from depths of 5–1000 m in Monterey Bay, finding that microplastic concentrations in mesopelagic waters (200–600 m depth) were comparable to or higher than surface concentrations. The study demonstrates that the deep ocean is not merely a sink but an active reservoir of microplastics vertically transported by biological organisms.
The submarine Congo Canyon as a conduit for microplastics to the deep sea
Researchers investigated the Congo Canyon submarine canyon as a potential conduit for transporting land-derived plastic waste to the deep sea. The canyon, which connects the Congo River to the deep Atlantic, may funnel significant amounts of microplastics from Central Africa's coast to the seafloor thousands of meters below. Understanding deep-sea plastic transport pathways is critical for assessing the full extent of ocean microplastic contamination.
Massive benthic litter funnelled to deep sea by flash-flood generated hyperpycnal flows
Researchers surveying deep-sea channels in the Strait of Messina (Mediterranean) found marine litter at densities up to 200 items per 10 meters — the highest ever recorded in the deep sea — transported there by powerful underwater sediment flows triggered by coastal flash floods. The findings reveal that flash floods can rapidly funnel massive amounts of land-sourced plastic litter into deep-ocean ecosystems that were previously considered remote and protected.
Ocean current modulation of the spatial distribution of microplastics in the surface sediments of the Beibu Gulf, China
Researchers conducted a large-scale survey of microplastics in seafloor sediments of the Beibu Gulf in China and found that ocean currents play a major role in where microplastics accumulate. The study provides important data on how water circulation patterns transport and concentrate microplastic pollution in coastal marine environments.
Modelled transport of benthic marine microplastic pollution in the Nazaré Canyon
Researchers characterized the hydrodynamic properties of non-buoyant plastic pellets in the laboratory and used the MOHID ocean model to simulate the transport and dispersal of benthic microplastics within the Nazaré Canyon off the Portuguese coast. The model predicted that canyon hydrodynamics concentrate and redistribute plastic debris from land sources to deep-sea deposition zones.