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Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Sea Waves Transport of Inertial Micro-Plastics: Mathematical Model and Applications
ClearWave-averaged motion of small particles in surface gravity waves: Effect of particle shape on orientation, drift, and dispersion
This study uses mathematical modeling to show that the shape of a small particle — such as a microplastic fragment — determines how it orients itself, drifts, and spreads when carried by ocean surface waves. This matters for predicting where microplastics accumulate in the ocean, since non-spherical fibers and fragments move very differently from spheres under the same wave conditions.
Wave-averaged motion of small particles in surface gravity waves: effect of particle shape on orientation, drift, and dispersion
This study modeled how the shape of particles like microplastics affects their movement, orientation, and drift in ocean surface waves. Researchers found that elongated or asymmetric particles behave very differently from spheres, influencing how far and where they travel. Better understanding of shape-dependent transport is needed to accurately predict how microplastics distribute across ocean surfaces.
Fate of microplastics and mesoplastics carried by surface currents and wind waves: A numerical model approach in the Sea of Japan
A particle-tracking ocean model for the Sea of Japan showed that surface currents, wind waves, and Stokes drift all influence the distribution of floating microplastics, with model outputs matching field survey data. The study demonstrates the value of combining wave dynamics with current models to predict where microplastics accumulate in coastal seas.
Influence of waves on the three-dimensional distribution of plastic in the ocean
Researchers modeled the trajectories of microplastic particles released continuously from coastal sources across realistic ocean simulations to understand how wave dynamics and ocean circulation distribute plastic pollution globally. The model showed that wave-driven mixing significantly influences vertical plastic distribution, not just horizontal surface drift. Including wave effects improves predictions of where ocean microplastics accumulate.
Transport of anisotropic particles under waves
A computer model showed that non-spherical particles (like many microplastic fragments and fibers) behave differently from spherical ones in wave-driven water flow, affecting how they orient and where they travel. Accounting for particle shape is important for accurately predicting where microplastic debris accumulates in coastal and ocean environments.
Memory effects in wave-induced microplastic transport
Researchers developed an improved model for wave-induced microplastic transport that incorporates the Basset-Boussinesq history force using a multistep integration scheme, extending the applicability of existing transport models to larger microplastic particle sizes in ocean surface waves of arbitrary depth. The study demonstrates that memory effects in particle-wave interactions produce transport behavior that departs significantly from simple Stokes drift predictions.
Laboratory Measurements of the Wave‐Induced Motion of Plastic Particles: Influence of Wave Period, Plastic Size and Plastic Density
Researchers conducted laboratory flume experiments to measure the wave-induced Lagrangian drift of plastic particles of varying size and density under different wave periods and intermediate water depth conditions. They found that particle density was the dominant factor — floating particles followed theoretical Stokes drift closely while sinking particles showed substantially reduced net displacement — with implications for predicting plastic transport from coasts to ocean garbage patches.
Memory effects in wave-induced microplastic transport
Researchers developed an improved model for wave-induced microplastic transport that incorporates the Basset-Boussinesq history force using a multistep integration scheme, extending the applicability of existing transport models to larger microplastic particle sizes in linear surface waves of arbitrary depth. The study shows that neglecting history forces leads to significant errors in predicting the transport trajectories of microplastics larger than the smallest size fractions.
Fluid dynamics challenges in predicting plastic pollution transport in the ocean: A perspective
This perspective reviewed fluid dynamics challenges in predicting microplastic transport in oceans, highlighting unsolved problems in modeling inertial particles in waves and turbulence, particle transformation, and the influence of submesoscale ocean processes.
A Simplified Experimental Method to Estimate the Transport of Non-Buoyant Plastic Particles Due to Waves by 2D Image Processing
Not a microplastics paper in the strict sense — this study develops and validates an image-processing method to track the movement of non-buoyant plastic debris particles under wave action in a laboratory wave tank, advancing the physical modeling tools used to predict where plastic pollution accumulates in coastal environments.
Inertial effects on the transport of an anisotropic particle in surface gravity waves
Researchers modeled the transport and rotation of ellipsoidal particles — representing microplastic fibers and other non-spherical shapes — in surface ocean waves. They found that particle shape significantly affects horizontal drift, with elongated particles drifting at different rates than spheres. These results indicate that accurately predicting the transport of fiber microplastics in the ocean requires accounting for particle shape.
On some physical and dynamical properties of microplastic particles in marine environment
This study examined the physical and dynamical properties of microplastic particles in marine environments, using modeling to predict how particle shape, density, and size govern transport, dispersion, and accumulation patterns.
Orientation dynamics of nonspherical particles under surface gravity waves
This experimental study found that non-spherical particles (like many microplastic fragments) orient themselves in specific ways when exposed to surface ocean waves, affecting how they move and sink. These orientation effects are not captured in simple spherical particle models, suggesting current microplastic transport predictions may be inaccurate.
Quantifying the influence of size, shape, and density of microplastics on their transport modes: A modeling approach
Researchers developed a computer model that predicts how microplastics of different sizes, shapes, and densities move through ocean water. The model accurately simulates whether particles float on the surface, stay suspended in the water column, or settle to the bottom. Understanding how microplastics travel through marine environments is important for predicting where contamination accumulates and which seafood sources are most likely to be affected.
Settling Velocity of Microplastics Exposed to Wave Action
Researchers investigated how wave action affects the settling velocity of microplastic debris, finding that hydrodynamic forces from waves alter the transport and deposition behavior of microplastics in marine environments.
Influence of waves on the three-dimensional distribution of plastic in the ocean.
This modeling study simulated the three-dimensional transport of plastic particles in the ocean over 24 years using a wave-coupled circulation model, finding that ocean surface waves significantly influence how deeply plastics are mixed and distributed. Accounting for waves is important for accurately predicting where plastic pollution concentrates and how much reaches the deep ocean.
Effect of Surface Waves on Settling and Drifting of Microplastic Particles: A Laboratory Experiment
Researchers conducted laboratory wave-channel experiments to study the trajectories, settling velocities, and drift velocities of microplastic particles of varying shapes (isometric, flat, elongated) under surface wave and wind-driven current conditions, finding terminal settling velocities of 1.0-3.8 cm/s in still fluid and characterizing how wave action modifies transport behavior.
Experimental investigation on the nearshore transport of buoyant microplastic particles
Researchers measured nearshore transport of buoyant microplastic particles and found they travel at near-fluid velocity before wave breaking but accelerate in the surf zone, with lighter particles transported faster, and developed an empirical formula for predicting cross-shore microplastic transport velocities.
Impacts of wind forcing on microplastics kinematic in a sensitive water area
Researchers modeled how wind forcing affects the movement and distribution of microplastics in a sensitive coastal water area, finding that wind-driven surface currents are a dominant control on where microplastics accumulate. The model predicts substantial wind-driven concentration at specific coastal zones.
Enhanced settling and dispersion of inertial particles in surface waves
Researchers developed kinematic expressions for the transport of negatively buoyant inertial particles in surface waves, finding that the nonlinear drag regime is most applicable to real-world marine debris and sediment, and quantifying how wave-induced flows cause enhanced particle settling and lateral dispersion.
A wave-resolving 2DV Lagrangian approach to model microplastic transport in the nearshore
This study presents a new computer modeling approach to simulate how both floating and sinking microplastics move through wave-dominated nearshore waters, incorporating realistic turbulence, seafloor interactions, and particle settling. Accurate nearshore transport models are critical for predicting where microplastics accumulate along coastlines, how much re-enters the open ocean, and which beaches and coastal ecosystems face the greatest contamination risk.
A wave-resolving two-dimensional vertical Lagrangian approach to model microplastic transport in nearshore waters based on TrackMPD 3.0
Researchers developed a wave-resolving model to simulate how microplastics move through nearshore waters, accounting for processes like resuspension from the seabed and turbulence-driven transport. The model successfully reproduced laboratory experiments showing different behavior for floating versus sinking microplastics. This tool could help predict where microplastics accumulate along coastlines and improve understanding of how shoreline environments act as sources or sinks of plastic pollution.
Influence of Particle Size and Fragmentation on Large-Scale Microplastic Transport in the Mediterranean Sea
Modeling of microplastic transport in the Mediterranean Sea showed that particle size and density strongly influence vertical distribution and large-scale dispersal patterns. Incorporating plastic fragmentation into the model predicted mass loss over time but also a shift toward smaller, more numerous particles that travel further and are harder to remove.
Wave-induced Lagrangian drift in a porous seabed
Researchers used mathematical modeling to show that ocean waves can drive a slow net horizontal movement of water (Stokes drift) through the sandy seabed, and suggested this wave-driven flow could be a previously overlooked pathway by which microplastics are transported into and through the ocean floor sediment.