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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Transport of marine microplastic particles: why is it so difficult to predict?
ClearOn 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.
A review of methods for modeling microplastic transport in the marine environments
This review systematically evaluated the advantages and limitations of various numerical modeling methods used to predict microplastic transport in marine environments, including key factors like parameterization of microplastic behaviors and beaching configurations.
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.
Modeling Microplastic Transport in the Marine Environment: Testing Empirical Models of Particle Terminal Sinking Velocity for Irregularly Shaped Particles
Researchers tested multiple drag models for predicting the terminal settling velocity of irregularly shaped microplastic particles in seawater, identifying three high-precision models and demonstrating that settling velocity is largely stable across ocean depths and independent of initial particle velocity, improving the accuracy of marine microplastic transport simulations.
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.
Using Numerical Model Simulations to Improve the Understanding of Micro-plastic Distribution and Pathways in the Marine Environment
This review summarizes a decade of numerical models that simulate the ocean transport of microplastics, assessing how well different models capture the effects of currents, waves, and wind. The authors identify key uncertainties — especially around vertical mixing, beaching, and fragmentation — that limit the predictive accuracy of current models.
Physical transport properties of marine microplastic pollution
Researchers reviewed the physical transport properties of marine microplastics — including buoyancy, settling velocity, and biofouling effects — and developed models predicting the dispersal of both pelagic and benthic plastic pollution from land-based sources across different ocean regions. The study highlights how hydrodynamic behavior varies by polymer type and particle size, leading to differential accumulation patterns in surface waters, the water column, and seafloor sediments.
Sinking characteristics of microplastics in the marine environment
This study investigated the sinking behavior of microplastics in the marine environment, finding that particle properties such as density, shape, and biofouling strongly influence whether particles float or sink, helping explain why much of the expected floating plastic is unaccounted for.
A 3D numerical model to Track Marine Plastic Debris (TrackMPD): Sensitivity of microplastic trajectories and fates to particle dynamical properties and physical processes
The TrackMPD model was introduced as a 3D numerical framework for simulating marine microplastic transport, incorporating particle properties, buoyancy changes, and physical oceanographic processes to improve trajectory and fate predictions.
Modeling the Fate and Transport of Plastic Debris in Freshwaters: Review and Guidance
Researchers reviewed current mathematical models for tracking how plastic debris — including microplastics and nanoplastics — moves through freshwater environments, finding that while many principles from existing particle models apply, plastic's unique combination of high persistence, low density, and extreme size range makes its behavior far more varied and complex to predict.
Numerical Modelling Techniques for Marine Debris : A Systematic Literature Review
This systematic review surveys numerical modeling approaches used to track the fate and transport of marine plastic debris, covering particle tracking models, hydrodynamic simulations, and bibliometric trends. Understanding how plastic moves through ocean systems is critical for identifying pollution hotspots and designing effective cleanup or prevention strategies.
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 threshold model of plastic waste fragmentation: New insights into the distribution of microplastics in the ocean and its evolution over time
Researchers developed a fragmentation model for plastic particles in the ocean that postulates a critical size threshold below which further fragmentation becomes extremely unlikely, producing a predicted abundance peak around 1 mm in agreement with field data. The model incorporates realistic environmental input rates and degradation kinetics to project the evolution of microplastic particle size distributions over time.
Recent trends in marine microplastic modeling and machine learning tools: Potential for long-term microplastic monitoring
This review examines recent advances in numerical modeling and machine learning tools for tracking marine microplastic transport, highlighting their potential for improving long-term microplastic monitoring and understanding environmental fate.
Modeling microplastic transport through porous media: Challenges arising from dynamic transport behavior
This perspective article examines the challenges of modeling how microplastics move through soil and groundwater systems, noting that existing transport models designed for other particles fall short. Microplastic properties change dynamically as they interact with their environment, altering their density, surface chemistry, and movement behavior in ways that are difficult to predict. The study argues that new modeling approaches, potentially using data-driven methods, are needed to accurately predict microplastic transport at meaningful environmental scales.
Modelling microplastic dynamics in estuaries: a comprehensive review, challenges, and recommendations
This review examined process-based numerical models used to simulate microplastic transport and fate in estuaries, identifying key challenges including particle diversity, tidal dynamics, and limited field validation data. The authors highlight how models complement observational studies and outline priorities for improving predictive accuracy in these dynamic coastal environments.
Dispersion, accumulation and the ultimate fate of microplastics in deep-marine environments: A review and future directions
This review synthesized existing knowledge on microplastic distribution in deep-marine environments, integrating process-based sedimentological transport models with field data to outline how microplastics disperse, accumulate, and become buried in seafloor sediments, and identifying key gaps for future research.
Distribution and importance of microplastics in the marine environment: A review of the sources, fate, effects, and potential solutions
This review synthesized research on the distribution and significance of microplastics across the marine environment, covering sources, transport pathways, ecological interactions, and the state of knowledge on biological and chemical effects.
Mathematical modeling of microplastic abundance, distribution, and transport in water environments: A review
This review surveys mathematical models used to predict how microplastics move through and accumulate in rivers and oceans. Researchers categorized existing approaches by environment type and modeling method, identifying strengths and gaps in current simulation tools. The study highlights the need for better models that account for real-world complexity, including particle fragmentation and biofouling, to improve predictions of where microplastics end up.
Lagrangian Modeling of Marine Microplastics Fate and Transport: The State of the Science
This comprehensive review synthesizes Lagrangian modeling approaches used to track the fate and transport of marine microplastics, covering particle dynamics, buoyancy, biofouling, and sedimentation processes across global ocean systems. The authors identify key knowledge gaps and recommend standardization of model parameters to improve predictions of plastic distribution and exposure risk.
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.
Sinking rates of microplastics and potential implications of their alteration by physical, biological, and chemical factors
Researchers conducted sinking experiments with diverse microplastic particles and found that sinking velocity depends not only on density and size but also on particle shape, and that biofouling and weathering can substantially alter sinking rates with implications for how microplastics distribute through the water column.
Review on the distribution of microplastics in the oceans and its impacts: Need for modeling-based approach to investigate the transport and risk of microplastic pollution
This review synthesizes evidence on microplastic distribution across global oceans and argues that modeling-based approaches are urgently needed to better understand transport pathways and assess pollution risks at scale.
Towards A universal settling model for microplastics with diverse shapes: Machine learning breaking morphological barriers
Researchers developed a machine learning model to predict the settling velocity of microplastics across different shapes, including fragments, films, and fibers. Unlike existing models limited to specific morphologies, this approach works universally across all three particle types. The study provides a more reliable tool for modeling how microplastics move through and deposit in aquatic environments.