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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to On some physical and dynamical properties of microplastic particles in marine environment
ClearTransport of marine microplastic particles: why is it so difficult to predict?
This review examines why predicting the transport of marine microplastic particles is challenging, highlighting that the wide distributions of particle density, size, and shape create continuously varying dynamical properties such as sinking velocity and resuspension thresholds. Researchers found that existing numerical models predominantly use simplified single-particle representations and fail to capture how particle properties change over time in the marine environment.
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.
Wave-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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Modelling size and shape distributions of micro- and macroplastics emitted to the natural environment
This study developed models to describe the size and shape distributions of plastic particles emitted into the environment, combining data from multiple sources for the first time. Accurate physical characterization of emitted particles is essential for meaningful ecological risk assessment.
Effect of Physical Characteristics and Hydrodynamic Conditions on Transport and Deposition of Microplastics in Riverine Ecosystem
This review examined how microplastic physical characteristics like density, shape, and size interact with hydrodynamic conditions to govern their transport and deposition patterns in riverine ecosystems, highlighting key processes that determine where plastics accumulate.
Coupled CFD-DEM modelling to assess settlement velocity and drag coefficient of microplastics
Researchers used computational fluid dynamics coupled with particle simulations to model how the size, shape, and density of microplastics affect their settling velocity and drag in water. Accurate physical models of microplastic behavior are essential for predicting where particles accumulate in rivers, lakes, and the ocean.
Parametric study of the dispersion of inertial ellipsoidal particles in a wave-current flow
This study systematically examined how the shape, size, and density of inertial ellipsoidal particles influence their dispersion by wave-current flows, with direct relevance to predicting how microplastic fragments and fibers of varying morphology are transported in coastal and marine environments.
Design of model microplastics to study their transport in urban waters
Researchers designed model microplastic particles with controlled physical properties to systematically study their transport behavior in urban water systems. The work provides a foundation for understanding how microplastic size, density, and shape influence fate and transport in stormwater and urban drainage networks.
Plastic microbeads from cosmetic products: an experimental study of their hydrodynamic behaviour, vertical transport and resuspension in phytoplankton and sediment aggregates
Researchers studied the hydrodynamic behavior of plastic microbeads from cosmetic products, finding that their physical properties — size, shape, and density — govern how they disperse and settle in aquatic environments after release from consumer products.
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.
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.
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.
Transport dynamics of microplastics from land to sea: the role of particle properties and stream morphology.
Researchers measured how particle properties including size, density, and polymer type interact with stream morphology to determine microplastic transport distances in 15 streams. Both plastic characteristics and stream structure independently influenced how far microplastics travel before settling, with implications for estimating fluxes to the ocean.
Microplastics on the move
This review examines how the physical properties of microplastics — including density, size, morphology, and durability — drive their dispersal across aquatic and terrestrial environments via wind currents, water flows, and biological vectors.
Modelling size distributions of marine plastics under the influence of continuous cascading fragmentation
Researchers developed a cascading fragmentation model to simulate how marine plastics break down over time, showing that continuous size-reducing fragmentation processes can reproduce observed particle size distributions in the global ocean.
Effects of Shape and Size on Microplastic Atmospheric Settling Velocity
Researchers measured atmospheric settling and horizontal drift velocities of various microplastic shapes and sizes in controlled settling chambers, providing empirical data needed to improve atmospheric transport models that explain how microplastics reach remote environments.
Assimilating Size Diversity: Population Balance Equations Applied to the Modeling of Microplastic Transport
This paper applied population balance equations to model the size distribution dynamics of microplastics in environmental systems, providing a mathematical framework to predict fragmentation and aggregation behavior over time.
Modeling the settling and resuspension of microplastics in rivers: Effect of particle properties and flow conditions
Researchers developed a mathematical model to simulate how microplastics of different shapes settle and resuspend in rivers, moving beyond the common assumption that all particles are spherical. They found that turbulence has a complex effect, sometimes keeping particles suspended longer and sometimes accelerating their settling, depending on flow conditions. The model reveals that particle shape significantly influences where microplastics end up in river systems.