In a new article on the topic "Plastic in the Sea", experimental measurements of the beaching times for buoyant microplastic particles are presented. The beaching times are used to quantify the cross-coastal Lagrangian transport velocities of microplastics.
The experiments show that buoyant microplastic particles are transported onshore by the waves before finally reaching the beach. Before breaking, the transport velocity of the microplastic is close to that of the liquid, regardless of the properties of the particles. In the surf zone, the Lagrangian transport velocities of the particles increase and approach the speed of the breaking wave. Below the breaking wave, particles with high (low) rise velocities have larger (smaller) Lagrangian transport velocities. An equation for predicting the wave-induced transport velocities of buoyant microplastics in the coastal profile is formulated.
The work was done as part of the project MPCoast: MicroPlastic transport processes in the COASTal environment together with colleagues from the DTU.
To the article:
Bjarke EltardLarsen, Mustafa Ali AbdullahAl-Obaidi, Hasan GokhanGuler, StefanCarstensen, Koray DenizGoral, Erik DamgaardChristensen, Nils B.Kerpen, TorstenSchlurmann, David R.Fuhrman, Experimental investigation on the nearshore transport of buoyant microplastic particles, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 187, February 2023, 114610, ISSN 0025-326X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114610.
