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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Passive buoyant tracers in the ocean surface boundary layer: 1. Influence of equilibrium wind‐waves on vertical distributions
ClearPassive buoyant tracers in the ocean surface boundary layer: 2. Observations and simulations of microplastic marine debris
Using ocean computer models calibrated against real-world observations, this study showed how wave mixing and other physical processes push buoyant microplastics below the ocean surface, explaining why less plastic is detected at the surface than expected. These models are critical for estimating where microplastic pollution is truly accumulating in the ocean.
The effect of wind mixing on the vertical distribution of buoyant plastic debris
Researchers modeled and measured how wind mixing affects the vertical distribution of buoyant plastic debris in the ocean, finding that turbulent mixing drives plastics below the surface and explains why surface sampling underestimates total plastic concentrations.
Dispersion of buoyant Lagrangian particles in the wave-driven ocean surface boundary layer
This computational study used large eddy simulations to model how buoyant particles — including plastics, oil, and biological material — disperse within the ocean surface boundary layer under different wave and turbulence conditions. The results showed that Langmuir turbulence (driven by wave-current interactions) is especially effective at submerging buoyant particles and influencing their horizontal spread, while highly buoyant particles can become trapped at the surface under certain conditions. The findings are directly relevant to modeling how microplastics distribute across the ocean surface and how long they remain accessible to marine organisms that feed near the surface.
Non-breaking Wave Effects on Buoyant Particle Distributions
This study used wave-resolving simulations to examine how surface gravity waves affect the distribution of buoyant microplastic particles in the ocean mixed layer. The findings show that wave dynamics create concentration patterns near the surface that are missed by models that do not resolve individual wave phases.
Empirical Lagrangian parametrization for wind-driven mixing of buoyant particles at the ocean surface
This study developed simplified mathematical models for how wind-driven turbulence mixes buoyant particles — including microplastics — in the ocean surface layer. Better parameterizations of near-surface mixing are important for predicting where floating microplastics concentrate and how they eventually sink.
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.
Large eddy simulations of the accumulation of buoyant material in oceanic wind-driven and convective turbulence
Researchers used large eddy simulations to show that buoyant materials like microplastics accumulate at specific ocean surface zones driven by convergent currents under both wind-driven and convective turbulence, improving understanding of how plastics concentrate at the sea surface.
Microplastics segregation by rise velocity at the ocean surface
This study modeled the competing forces of particle buoyancy and turbulent mixing that control the vertical distribution of microplastics in the ocean surface layer, finding that particle rise velocity is the key variable that segregates plastic types and determines how they distribute relative to surface and subsurface measurements.
Vertical structure of ocean surface currents under high winds from massive arrays of drifters
This oceanography study used drifting buoys to measure ocean surface currents very close to the water surface, improving understanding of how wind and waves drive near-surface transport. Such current models are important for predicting how buoyant microplastics are distributed and concentrated across ocean surface waters.
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.
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.
Lagrangian Investigation of Wave-Driven Turbulence in the Ocean Surface Boundary Layer
This study used Lagrangian particle tracking within large-eddy simulations to analyze wave-driven turbulence in the ocean surface boundary layer. Ocean surface turbulence directly controls how microplastics are mixed, accumulated, and transported in the uppermost layer of the ocean.
Horizontal Dispersion of Buoyant Materials in the Ocean Surface Boundary Layer
This theoretical and computational study examined how buoyant materials like plastic fragments are dispersed horizontally in the ocean surface layer by turbulent mixing processes. The modeling results help explain how surface microplastics spread and whether they reach zones of biological concentration.
Aggregation of Slightly Buoyant Microplastics in Three-Dimensional Vortex Flows
This modeling study found that slightly buoyant microplastics preferentially accumulate in vorticity-dominated regions below the ocean surface in three-dimensional eddy flows. This explains why microplastics are found throughout the water column rather than just at the surface, and has implications for their ingestion by organisms at various depths.
Modeling of vertical microplastic transport by rising bubbles
This study modeled the vertical transport of microplastic particles by rising bubbles in the ocean, finding that bubble-mediated transport significantly enhances surface concentration of microplastics and helps explain why surface measurements often show higher particle densities than bulk water predictions suggest.
Investigation of dynamic change in microplastics vertical distribution patterns: The seasonal effect on vertical distribution
This study combined targeted field sampling in the Bay of Marseille with numerical simulations to analyze how microplastic vertical distribution patterns in the ocean water column change seasonally, finding that wind mixing and particle buoyancy are key drivers of vertical transport.
Numerical analysis of boundary conditions in a Lagrangian particle model for vertical mixing, transport and surfacing of buoyant particles in the water column
This technical modeling paper examines how to accurately simulate the behavior of buoyant particles (like microplastics) rising to the ocean surface in computer models. Improving these simulations helps predict where floating microplastics will accumulate in the ocean.
The effect of particle properties on the depth profile of buoyant plastics in the ocean
Using sampling at multiple depths from 0 to 5 meters in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, researchers measured how turbulent mixing redistributes buoyant microplastics below the ocean surface. The results show that surface net sampling alone significantly underestimates total microplastic concentrations, particularly in windy conditions.
The vertical distribution of buoyant plastics at sea: an observational study in the North Atlantic Gyre
Field measurements of buoyant plastic particles at multiple depths in the ocean showed that concentrations decrease sharply below a few meters, with turbulence mixing plastics downward. The data validate model predictions and confirm that surface net trawls substantially undercount total plastic in the water column.
Empirical Lagrangian parametrization for wind-driven mixing of buoyant particles at the ocean surface
Researchers developed 1D Lagrangian parametrizations of wind-driven turbulent mixing in the ocean surface layer for use in 3D particle-tracking models, finding that Markov-0 stochastic transport models perform well and that Langmuir-circulation turbulence must be included to match field measurements of microplastic concentration profiles.
Sea Waves Transport of Inertial Micro-Plastics: Mathematical Model and Applications
Researchers developed a mathematical model for how sea waves affect the movement of inertial microplastics in the ocean, calculating how particle size and density influence their trajectories under wave forcing. Better models of wave-driven plastic transport are needed to predict where microplastics accumulate in ocean surface waters.
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.
Influence of Near‐Surface Currents on the Global Dispersal of Marine Microplastic
An ocean circulation model incorporating biological and physical processes found that near-surface currents, including wind-driven surface drift and wave-induced mixing, play a major role in dispersing buoyant microplastics globally, with plastic accumulating preferentially in subtropical convergence zones. The model improves understanding of how ocean physics shapes global microplastic distribution patterns.
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.