Article published on small-scale plastic fluxes in rivers

2024/12/17 by

Spatio-temporal dynamics of (micro)plastic transport in low-order rivers

River systems act as major transport pathways for plastics through the environment. Despite substantial research efforts, the spatial and temporal dynamics of plastic transport in river cross sections under different hydrodynamic conditions is still largely unknown. Using a small-scale and stationary manta-net sampling approach, researchers from TU Darmstadt and Philipps-University Marburg were able to provide new insights on small-scale plastic fluxes. Using geostatistical methods, plastic fluxes under different discharge conditions were interpolated for a river cross section. Next to a linear relationship between discharge and number of plastic particles transported, this study shows that the transport of plastics in rivers is highly dynamic depending on cross-section morphology, hydrological conditions and plastic particle sizes.