CIRAIG, Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada; Baha and Walid Bassatne Department of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Energy, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
CIRAIG, Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Apr;177:113553. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113553. Epub 2022 Mar 15.
Despite the importance of estuaries as transition zones between freshwater and marine compartments, their role in the transport of microplastics is still unclear. This review analyzes the findings pertaining to the transport mechanisms and other factors that influence the fate of microplastics in estuaries. It was found that the concentration of microplastics temporally varies under daily tides, monthly tides, and seasonal flows. Moreover, it spatially varies due to density effects, biofouling, aggregation, and salinity. Wind direction and intensity impact the spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics in the water column. Some of these processes transport microplastics to the estuarine sediments. Thereafter, microplastics are prone to resuspension by turbulence and bioturbation. Hence, estuaries act as temporary sinks that retain microplastics before being flushed to the ocean. Finally, a review of highly plastic-emitting rivers shows differences in the factors affecting the transport mechanisms of microplastics, which calls for regionalization when modelling their fate henceforward.
尽管河口作为淡水和海洋之间的过渡区域非常重要，但它们在微塑料运输中的作用仍不清楚。本综述分析了与河口微塑料运输机制和其他影响微塑料命运的因素有关的研究结果。结果发现，微塑料的浓度在日潮、月潮和季节性水流下随时间变化。此外，由于密度效应、生物污垢、聚集和盐度，微塑料在空间上也存在差异。风向和强度影响水柱中微塑料的时空分布。这些过程中的一些将微塑料输送到河口沉积物中。此后，微塑料容易因湍流和生物搅动而再次悬浮。因此，河口在被冲入海洋之前充当暂时的汇，保留微塑料。最后，对高塑料排放河流的综述表明，影响微塑料运输机制的因素存在差异，这要求在今后对其命运进行建模时进行区域化。
