How does the tidal cycle influence the estuarine dynamics of microplastics?

Ravena Santiago Alves; Victória Maria Carneiro Dos Santos; Rebeca Amon Moreira; Gabriel Chrystian Lima de Alcantara; Emanuelle Ribeiro Lima; Bárbara Pereira Paiva; Carlos Eduardo Peres Teixeira; Vasco Stascxak Neto; Alejandro Pedro Ayala; David Chelazzi; Johnny Peter Macedo Feitosa; Marcelo Oliveira Soares; Tommaso Giarrizzo; Michael Barbosa Viana

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117471

How does the tidal cycle influence the estuarine dynamics of microplastics?

Mar Pollut Bull. 2024 Dec 19:211:117471. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117471. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ravena Santiago Alves¹, Victória Maria Carneiro Dos Santos², Rebeca Amon Moreira³, Gabriel Chrystian Lima de Alcantara⁴, Emanuelle Ribeiro Lima⁵, Bárbara Pereira Paiva⁶, Carlos Eduardo Peres Teixeira⁷, Vasco Stascxak Neto⁸, Alejandro Pedro Ayala⁹, David Chelazzi¹⁰, Johnny Peter Macedo Feitosa¹¹, Marcelo Oliveira Soares¹², Tommaso Giarrizzo¹³, Michael Barbosa Viana¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁰ Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff" and CSGI, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹¹ Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹² Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹³ Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁴ Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39706093
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117471

Abstract

Estuaries are the main pathway for the microplastics (MPs) to enter into the oceans. However, factors that drive river-sea transport of MPs are not yet fully understood. Therefore, our research investigated the influence of the tidal cycle on the abundance and characteristics of MPs in an urban estuary, through high-frequency sampling (every 2-3 h) using a plankton net (120 μm mesh size) in two seasons (rainy and dry seasons). The results showed that the abundance of MPs decreased during the ebb tide and increased during the flood tide. A positive correlation was found between MP abundance and water height in both seasons. The shapes and colors of MPs varied significantly throughout the tidal cycle. The results show that tides are key agents in the transfer of MPs and cannot be neglected in models of the global contribution of plastic pollution from rivers to oceans.

Keywords: Low-inflow estuary; Microplastic; Plastic debris; River-sea transport; Tidal fluctuation.