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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to The role of buoyancy in the dispersal of marine plastic debris and the impact of biofouling : does size matter?
ClearBiofouling on buoyant marine plastics: An experimental study into the effect of size on surface longevity
Researchers tested how quickly marine organisms colonize floating plastic debris of different sizes and whether this biofouling causes the plastics to sink. They found that smaller microplastics accumulated enough biological growth to lose buoyancy and begin sinking within weeks, much faster than larger pieces. The study helps explain why smaller microplastics are unexpectedly scarce at the ocean surface, as biofouling may be rapidly transporting them to deeper waters and sediments.
Integrated effects of polymer type, size and shape on the sinking dynamics of biofouled microplastics
Researchers investigated how polymer type, size, and shape interact with biofouling to influence microplastic sinking dynamics, finding that biofilm growth altered buoyancy and settling rates in ways that depend on the physical characteristics of each particle.
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.
Biofouling impacts on polyethylene density and sinking in coastal waters: A macro/micro tipping point?
Researchers measured biofouling-induced density changes in polyethylene microplastic particles deployed in coastal waters and found that biofouling caused buoyant particles to sink on timescales of days to weeks, challenging assumptions about surface plastic persistence and potentially explaining the missing plastic paradox.
Effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics
Researchers studied how biofouling — the accumulation of microorganisms and organic matter on particle surfaces — alters the sinking behavior of microplastics, finding that biofouled particles sink faster and are more likely to reach seafloor sediments.
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.
Sinking of microbial-associated microplastics in natural waters
Researchers investigated how microbial biofilm colonization of microplastics affects their buoyancy and sinking behavior in natural waters, finding that biological ballasting from attached microorganisms can significantly increase particle density and promote vertical transport toward sediments. The results suggest that biofouling is a key mechanism driving the removal of microplastics from surface waters.
Rise velocity of small polyolefin plastics in a seawater tank exposed to natural conditions in Hawai’i
Researchers measured the rise velocity of positively buoyant polyolefin plastic particles in a seawater tank exposed to natural environmental conditions in Hawaii, examining the effects of surface area to volume ratio and biofouling on buoyancy and transport. They found that biofouling significantly altered the rise velocity of plastics, highlighting the importance of environmental weathering in determining the vertical distribution and sinking behavior of marine plastic debris.
Ups and Downs in the Ocean: Effects of Biofouling on Vertical Transport of Microplastics
Researchers developed the first theoretical model to simulate how biofouling, the growth of microbial biofilms on plastic surfaces, affects the vertical movement of microplastics in the ocean. The model predicts that depending on particle size and density, fouled microplastics may float, sink to the seafloor, or oscillate at intermediate depths. These findings help explain why small microplastics seem to disappear from the ocean surface and suggest they may concentrate at mid-water depths where vulnerable species live.
Characteristics and Sinking Behavior of Typical Microplastics Including the Potential Effect of Biofouling: Implications for Remediation
Researchers characterized how microplastics of different shapes sink through water, finding that shape is a critical factor, with films behaving very differently from spheres and fibers. The study also examines how biofouling on floating plastics can cause them to sink, with implications for designing filtration and remediation systems.
Modelling submerged biofouled microplastics and their vertical trajectories
Using an ocean circulation model, researchers simulated the vertical trajectories of biofouled microplastic particles of different sizes across three ocean regions with distinct biological and physical properties. Larger particles (0.1 to 1.0 mm) showed rapid oscillatory sinking and resurfacing behavior with cycles under 10 days, while smaller particles oscillated over up to 130 days, explaining how biofouling drives microplastic distribution through the water column.
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.
Modelling the sedimentation of macro-, micro- and nanoplastics in the ocean from surface to sediment
Researchers modeled the sedimentation of macro-, micro-, and nanoplastics from the ocean surface to the seafloor, finding that biofouling and particle aggregation dramatically accelerate sinking rates and that most plastics eventually reach benthic environments.
Microplastics in the marine environment: A review of their sources, distribution processes, uptake and exchange in ecosystems
Researchers reviewed the literature on how microplastics move through marine environments, finding that while plastic density helps predict vertical distribution in the water column, biological interactions — such as ingestion and biofouling — better explain why buoyant plastics end up at great ocean depths and transfer through food webs. The review underscores that microplastic bioaccumulation is driven as much by ecology as by physical properties.
Rapid aggregation of biofilm-covered microplastics with marine biogenic particles
Researchers demonstrated that biofilm-covered microplastics rapidly aggregate with marine biogenic particles such as algal cells and fecal pellets, which accelerates their sinking from surface waters. The study helps explain why microplastic concentrations at the ocean surface are lower than expected — biofouling causes the particles to be transported to deeper waters and sediments faster than previously assumed.
Modeling submerged biofouled microplastics and their vertical trajectories
Researchers modeled how biofouling — the growth of algae and microbes on plastic surfaces — affects the vertical movement of microplastic particles in the open ocean. Biofouling increased sinking rates, causing microplastics to accumulate at depth rather than floating at the surface. This has implications for understanding where microplastics end up in the water column and how they are ingested by deep-water organisms.
Vertical transport of buoyant microplastic particles in the ocean: The role of turbulence and biofouling
Researchers modeled how turbulence and biofouling interact to determine the vertical movement of buoyant microplastic particles in the ocean. They identified three distinct flow regimes that govern whether microplastics stay at the surface, oscillate, or sink to the seafloor. The study helps explain the observation that even low-density microplastics are found in deep ocean sediments, suggesting biofouling-driven density changes are a key transport mechanism.
Biofilm growth on buoyant microplastics leads to changes in settling rates: Implications for microplastic retention in the Great Lakes
Researchers measured biofilm-induced density changes and sinking rates for buoyant polyethylene microplastics in Great Lakes water, finding that biofouling caused particles to sink within days to weeks, with implications for predicting where microplastics accumulate in large lake systems.
Oceanic realistic application of a microplastic biofouling model to the river discharge case
Researchers applied a biofouling model to simulate how microbial colonization affects microplastic transport from river discharge into oceanic environments, finding that biofouling alters particle density and significantly changes vertical distribution and transport distances.
Assessing the Settling Velocity of Biofilm-Encrusted Microplastics: Accounting for Biofilms as an Equivalent to Surface Roughness
This study investigated how biofilm growth on microplastics affects their sinking behavior in water. Researchers found that treating the biofilm as a form of surface roughness helps accurately predict how quickly biofouled plastic particles settle, with polyethylene particles sinking sooner than polypropylene ones. The findings improve our understanding of how microplastics move through water columns once marine organisms begin colonizing their surfaces.
Biofilm Formation Influences the Wettability and Settling of Microplastics
This study found that biofilm formation on microplastic surfaces does not necessarily increase particle mass density enough to cause sinking, contradicting a common assumption. Instead, changes in particle wettability caused by biofilm were identified as a critical mechanism controlling microplastic vertical transport in the ocean.
Why biofouling cannot contribute to the vertical transport of small microplastic
This modeling study examined why even buoyant microplastics like polyethylene and polypropylene are found at high concentrations in deep sediment traps and deep-sea sediments, despite expectations that they would float. The analysis demonstrated that biofouling alone cannot explain vertical transport of small microplastics, pointing to other mechanisms such as aggregation with marine snow as more likely drivers of deep-sea deposition.
Perspective into bio-fouled microplastic behaviour, transportation and characterization in water bodies
This review examines how biofouling alters the physicochemical properties of microplastics — including density, surface charge, hydrophobicity, and roughness — and how the resulting 'plastisphere' biofilm community reshapes microplastic transport dynamics, vertical flux, and long-term fate in aquatic systems.
Impacts of Biofilm Formation on the Fate and Potential Effects of Microplastic in the Aquatic Environment
Researchers reviewed how biofilm formation on microplastic surfaces affects the fate and potential ecological effects of microplastics in aquatic environments, finding that biofilms alter particle buoyancy, surface chemistry, and interactions with organisms.