5 research outputs found
Numerical modeling of microplastic interaction with fine sediment under estuarine conditions
Microplastic (MP) pollution is an important challenge for human life which has consequently affected the natural system of other organisms. Mismanagement and also careless handling of plastics in daily life has led to an accelerating contamination of air, water and soil compartments with MP. Under estuarine conditions, interactions with suspended particulate matter (SPM) like fine sediment in the water column play an important role on the fate of MP. Further studies to better understand the corresponding transport and accumulation mechanisms are required. This paper aims at providing a new modeling approach improving the MP settling velocity formulation based on higher suspended fine sediment concentrations, as i.e. existent in estuarine turbidity zones (ETZ). The capability of the suggested approach is examined through the modeling of released MP transport in water and their interactions with fine sediment (cohesive sediment/fluid mud). The model results suggest higher concentrations of MP in ETZ, both in the water column as well as the bed sediment, which is also supported by measurements. The key process in the modeling approach is the integration of small MP particles into estuarine fine sediment aggregates. This is realized by means of a threshold sediment concentration, above which the effective MP settling velocity increasingly approaches that of the sediment aggregates. The model results are in good agreement with measured MP mass concentrations. Moreover, the model results also show that lighter small MP particles can easier escape the ETZ towards the open sea
Synoptic observations of sediment transport and exchange mechanisms in the turbid Ems Estuary: the EDoM campaign
An extensive field campaign, the Ems-Dollard Measurements (EDoM), was executed in the Ems Estuary,
bordering the Netherlands and Germany, aimed at better understanding the
mechanisms that drive the exchange of water and sediments between a relatively exposed outer estuary and a hyper-turbid tidal river. More specifically, the reasons for the large up-estuary sediment accumulation rates and the role of the tidal river on the turbidity in the outer estuary were insufficiently understood. The campaign was designed to unravel the hydrodynamic and sedimentary exchange mechanisms, comprising two hydrographic surveys during contrasting environmental conditions using eight concurrently operating ships and 10 moorings measuring for at least one spring–neap tidal cycle. All survey locations were equipped with sensors measuring flow velocity, salinity, and turbidity (and with stationary ship surveys taking water samples), while some of the survey ships also measured turbulence and
sediment settling properties. These observations have provided important new insights into horizontal sediment fluxes and density-driven exchange flows, both laterally and longitudinally. An integral analysis of these
observations suggests that large-scale residual transport is surprisingly
similar during periods of high and low discharge, with higher river
discharge resulting in both higher seaward-directed fluxes near the surface
and landward-directed fluxes near the bed. Sediment exchange seems to be
strongly influenced by a previously undocumented lateral circulation cell
driving residual transport. Vertical density-driven flows in the outer
estuary are influenced by variations in river discharge, with a near-bed
landward flow being most pronounced in the days following a period with
elevated river discharge. The study site is more turbid during winter
conditions, when the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) is pushed seaward by river
flow, resulting in a more pronounced impact of suspended sediments on
hydrodynamics. All data collected during the EDoM campaign, but also
standard monitoring data (waves, water levels, discharge, turbidity, and
salinity) collected by Dutch and German authorities are made publicly
available at 4TU Centre for Research Data (https://doi.org/10.4121/c.6056564.v3; van Maren et al., 2022).</p