How Does Plastic Litter Accumulate in Submarine Canyons?
Abstract Manned submersible dives in the northwest South China Sea encountered substantial amounts of plastic litter accumulated at the base of scours along the floor of a submarine canyon, which may associate with the depositional behaviors of turbidity currents. In this study, we conduct numerical simulations using field‐scale bathymetry to investigate the relationship between the canyon floor morphology, flow processes, and the locations and sizes of the plastic litter piles. The consistent deposition pattern caused by the numerical turbidity currents with different input parameters indicate that morphology of the canyon may exert a dominant influence on turbidite deposition. This is attributed to a significant reduction in shear velocity as simulated turbidity currents flowing through the scours on the canyon floor. Spatial correspondence between deposits of turbidity currents and plastic litter accumulation suggests that suspended sediments and plastic may undergo simultaneous dynamic processes during the transportation of turbidity currents.
Authors
- Yuping Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2988-3092)
- Kaiqi Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2872-5356)
- Jingping Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2153-5368)
- Minghan Wang
- Ben Kneller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9685-901X)
- Guangfa Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1570-760X)
- Dawei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2124-9281)
Institutions
- Tongji University (CN)
- University of Aberdeen (GB)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Institute of Oceanology (CN)
- South China Sea Institute Of Oceanology (CN)
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN)
- Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) (CN)
- University College London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2024-09-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl110767
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.33
Funders
- Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen City
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Key Research and Development Program of China