Advances in Earth Science ›› 2019, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (1): 72-83. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2019.01.0072

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Numerical Simulation of Transportation of Marine Microplastics A Review

Chen Zhang 1( ),Qing Wang 2, *( ),Jianmin Zhao 1, 2   

  1. 1. Muping Coastal Environment Research Station, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Yantai 264003, China
    2. Research and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Yantai 264003, China
  • Received:2018-09-25 Revised:2018-12-15 Online:2019-01-10 Published:2019-03-05
  • Contact: Qing Wang E-mail:chenzhang@yic.ac.cn;qingwang@yic.ac.cn
  • About author:Zhang Chen(1984-), male, Laiyang City, Shandong Province, Engineer. Research areas include Physical Oceanography. E-mail: chenzhang@yic.ac.cn |Wang Qing(1981-), male, Jining City, Shandong Provine, Associate professor. Research areas include marine ecology. E-mail: qingwang@yic.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China “Study on the pollution status and toxic effects of microplastic in Laizhou Bay”(No. 41576122);Youth Innovation Promotion Association(No. 2016196)

Chen Zhang,Qing Wang,Jianmin Zhao. Numerical Simulation of Transportation of Marine Microplastics A Review[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2019, 34(1): 72-83.

The temporal and spatial discontinuity of microplastic sampling data restricts the investigation on their source, sink, transport pathway and trend. Numerical simulation combined with sampling investigation can comprehensively study the effects of microplastic characteristics, meteorology and hydrodynamics on the distribution and transportation of microplastics. In this paper, the studies of microplastic numerical simulation were reviewed from the aspects of numerical simulating research and their applications in microplastic tranportation, and the results were summarized as follows: The construction of the main driving force (current); the influence of environmental factors, such as wind, waves, topography and extreme sea conditions on the properties of microplastics with different characteristics (particle size, density, shape) and their tranportation; the application of numerical simulation in the study of microplastic removal. Based on progress on the study of numerical simulation of marine microplastics, the future directions were pointed out that the further simulating studies should focuson the spatio-temporal distribution and evolvement of microplastics by combining sampling data and numerical model, the simulating research on the relationship between microplastic parameters (roughness, wind drag coefficient, settling rate, resuspension rate and biofouling rate) and (meteorological and ocean) dynamic condition. Moreover, the results of simulating sensitivity experiments should be compared with sampling and laboratory testing data to improve the empirical parameters and formulas of numerical model.

No related articles found!
Viewed
Full text


Abstract