Seasonal change in fate and transport of plastics from Red River to the coast of Vietnam

作者：Zhiling Liao, Qingping Zou, Vu Duy Vinh, Zhong Pan, Michel J. Kaiser · 发表于：Marine Pollution Bulletin · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116923 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Microplastics and Plastic Pollution、Recycling and Waste Management Techniques

A Lagrangian-particle tracking model, Delft3D-PART, combined with hydrodynamics models are used to investigate the fate and transport of buoyant plastics from Ba Lat river mouth in Red River Delta, northern Vietnam. It was found that during the dry season (Dec-Feb), 23 % (26.43 ton) of the plastics reached the shoreline while 76.1 % (68.3 ton) moved towards the coast further south of Red River Delta. During the wet season (Jun-Aug), 42 % (56.3 ton) were transported offshore away from the coast and 20 % (26.43 ton) distributed along the shore. The two bays adjacent to the river mouth are major hotspots with the intensity skewed towards the upwind side relative to the seasonal monsoon. This phenomenon is exacerbated by storm events which reverse the typical transport and lead to formation of hotspots at the upwind side of the plastic source. Guidance of model results for targeted cleanup operations is discussed.