Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 169280 |
| Journal | Science of the Total Environment |
| Volume | 912 |
| Early online date | 19 Dec 2023 |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Feb 2024 |
Abstract
The present study provides indications and underlying drivers of wave-induced transport and retention potential of microplastic particles (MP) in marine vegetation canopies having different densities. The anthropogenic occurrence of MP in coastal waters is well documented in the recent literature. It is acknowledged that coastal vegetation can serve as a sink for MP due to its energy dissipating features, which can mimic a novel ecosystem service. While the transport behavior of MP in vegetation has previously been investigated to some extent for stationary flow conditions, fundamental investigations for unsteady surf zone flow conditions under irregular waves are still lacking. Herein, we demonstrate by means of hydraulic model tests that a vegetation's retention potential of MP in waves increases with the vegetation shoot density, the MP settling velocity and decreasing wave energy. It is found that particles migrating by traction (predominantly in contact with the bed) are trapped in the wake regions around a canopy, whereas suspended particles are able to pass vegetated areas more easily. Very dense canopies can also promote the passage of MP with diameters larger than the plant spacing, as the canopies then show characteristics of a solid sill and avoid particle penetration. The particle migration ability through a marine vegetation canopy is quantified, and the key drivers are described by an empirical expression based on the particle settling velocity, the canopy length and density. The findings of this study may contribute to improved prediction and assessment of MP accumulation hotspots in vegetated coastal areas and, thus, may help in tracing MP sinks. Such knowledge can be considered a prerequisite to develope methods or new technologies to recover plastic pollutants and rehabilitate valuable coastal environments.
Keywords
- Particle transport, Particle retention, Submerged canopy, Canopy density, Canopy flow, Canopy Dean number, Particle Dean number
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Pollution
- Environmental Science(all)
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Engineering
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Chemistry
Sustainable Development Goals
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 912, 169280, 20.02.2024.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Microplastic retention in marine vegetation canopies under breaking irregular waves
AU - Kerpen, Nils b.
AU - Larsen, Bjarke eltard
AU - Schlurmann, Torsten
AU - Paul, Maike
AU - Guler, Hasan gokhan
AU - Goral, Koray deniz
AU - Carstensen, Stefan
AU - Christensen, Erik damgaard
AU - Fuhrman, David r.
N1 - Funding Information: Parts of this research has been financially supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark project MPCOAST MicroPlastic transport processes in the COASTal environment, grant no. 0136-00227B . The authors likewise acknowledge the support of Lisanne Georgi for assisting during the hydraulic model testing and Maximilian Behnke for 3D-printing the specimen and parts of the set-up. Alexander Schendel contributed with discussions about principle sediment transport mechanisms.
PY - 2024/2/20
Y1 - 2024/2/20
N2 - The present study provides indications and underlying drivers of wave-induced transport and retention potential of microplastic particles (MP) in marine vegetation canopies having different densities. The anthropogenic occurrence of MP in coastal waters is well documented in the recent literature. It is acknowledged that coastal vegetation can serve as a sink for MP due to its energy dissipating features, which can mimic a novel ecosystem service. While the transport behavior of MP in vegetation has previously been investigated to some extent for stationary flow conditions, fundamental investigations for unsteady surf zone flow conditions under irregular waves are still lacking. Herein, we demonstrate by means of hydraulic model tests that a vegetation's retention potential of MP in waves increases with the vegetation shoot density, the MP settling velocity and decreasing wave energy. It is found that particles migrating by traction (predominantly in contact with the bed) are trapped in the wake regions around a canopy, whereas suspended particles are able to pass vegetated areas more easily. Very dense canopies can also promote the passage of MP with diameters larger than the plant spacing, as the canopies then show characteristics of a solid sill and avoid particle penetration. The particle migration ability through a marine vegetation canopy is quantified, and the key drivers are described by an empirical expression based on the particle settling velocity, the canopy length and density. The findings of this study may contribute to improved prediction and assessment of MP accumulation hotspots in vegetated coastal areas and, thus, may help in tracing MP sinks. Such knowledge can be considered a prerequisite to develope methods or new technologies to recover plastic pollutants and rehabilitate valuable coastal environments.
AB - The present study provides indications and underlying drivers of wave-induced transport and retention potential of microplastic particles (MP) in marine vegetation canopies having different densities. The anthropogenic occurrence of MP in coastal waters is well documented in the recent literature. It is acknowledged that coastal vegetation can serve as a sink for MP due to its energy dissipating features, which can mimic a novel ecosystem service. While the transport behavior of MP in vegetation has previously been investigated to some extent for stationary flow conditions, fundamental investigations for unsteady surf zone flow conditions under irregular waves are still lacking. Herein, we demonstrate by means of hydraulic model tests that a vegetation's retention potential of MP in waves increases with the vegetation shoot density, the MP settling velocity and decreasing wave energy. It is found that particles migrating by traction (predominantly in contact with the bed) are trapped in the wake regions around a canopy, whereas suspended particles are able to pass vegetated areas more easily. Very dense canopies can also promote the passage of MP with diameters larger than the plant spacing, as the canopies then show characteristics of a solid sill and avoid particle penetration. The particle migration ability through a marine vegetation canopy is quantified, and the key drivers are described by an empirical expression based on the particle settling velocity, the canopy length and density. The findings of this study may contribute to improved prediction and assessment of MP accumulation hotspots in vegetated coastal areas and, thus, may help in tracing MP sinks. Such knowledge can be considered a prerequisite to develope methods or new technologies to recover plastic pollutants and rehabilitate valuable coastal environments.
KW - Particle transport
KW - Particle retention
KW - Submerged canopy
KW - Canopy density
KW - Canopy flow
KW - Canopy Dean number
KW - Particle Dean number
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85180547508&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169280
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169280
M3 - Article
VL - 912
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
M1 - 169280
ER -