Seine Plastic Debris Transport Tenfolded During Increased River Discharge
Rivers transport land-based plastic waste into the ocean. Current efforts to quantify riverine plastic emission come with uncertainty as field observations are scarce. One of the challenging aspects is the lack of consistent measurement methods that allow for comparing rivers over space and time. Re...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-10-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00642/full |
| _version_ | 1819170263944658944 |
|---|---|
| author | Tim van Emmerik Tim van Emmerik Romain Tramoy Caroline van Calcar Caroline van Calcar Soline Alligant Robin Treilles Bruno Tassin Johnny Gasperi |
| author_facet | Tim van Emmerik Tim van Emmerik Romain Tramoy Caroline van Calcar Caroline van Calcar Soline Alligant Robin Treilles Bruno Tassin Johnny Gasperi |
| author_sort | Tim van Emmerik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rivers transport land-based plastic waste into the ocean. Current efforts to quantify riverine plastic emission come with uncertainty as field observations are scarce. One of the challenging aspects is the lack of consistent measurement methods that allow for comparing rivers over space and time. Recent studies have shown that simple visual observations provide a robust first-order characterization of floating and superficially suspended plastic transport, both in quantity, spatiotemporal distribution and composition. For this study, we applied this method to the river Seine, France, to provide new insights in the spatiotemporal variation in riverine plastic transport. First, we studied the response of plastic flow to increased river discharge by comparing measurements taken during low flow and high flow periods. Second, we investigated the variation of riverine plastic transport over the river length to improve our understanding of the origin and fate of riverine plastics. We demonstrate that during a period with higher river discharge, plastic transport increased up to a factor ten at the observation point closest to the river mouth. This suggests that the plastic emission into the ocean from the Seine may also be considerably higher during increased discharge. Upstream of Paris plastic transport increased only with a factor 1.5, suggesting that most plastics originate from Paris or areas further downstream. With this paper we aim to shed additional light on the seasonal variation in riverine plastic transport and its distribution along the river length, which may benefit future long-term monitoring efforts and plastic pollution mitigation strategies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T19:32:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c8522e0e11a941b2856d8ff943501c42 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T19:32:37Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-c8522e0e11a941b2856d8ff943501c422022-12-21T18:15:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452019-10-01610.3389/fmars.2019.00642474513Seine Plastic Debris Transport Tenfolded During Increased River DischargeTim van Emmerik0Tim van Emmerik1Romain Tramoy2Caroline van Calcar3Caroline van Calcar4Soline Alligant5Robin Treilles6Bruno Tassin7Johnny Gasperi8The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsHydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, NetherlandsLEESU, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, FranceThe Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Delft University of Technology, Delft, NetherlandsLEESU, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, FranceLEESU, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, FranceLEESU, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, FranceLEESU, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, FranceRivers transport land-based plastic waste into the ocean. Current efforts to quantify riverine plastic emission come with uncertainty as field observations are scarce. One of the challenging aspects is the lack of consistent measurement methods that allow for comparing rivers over space and time. Recent studies have shown that simple visual observations provide a robust first-order characterization of floating and superficially suspended plastic transport, both in quantity, spatiotemporal distribution and composition. For this study, we applied this method to the river Seine, France, to provide new insights in the spatiotemporal variation in riverine plastic transport. First, we studied the response of plastic flow to increased river discharge by comparing measurements taken during low flow and high flow periods. Second, we investigated the variation of riverine plastic transport over the river length to improve our understanding of the origin and fate of riverine plastics. We demonstrate that during a period with higher river discharge, plastic transport increased up to a factor ten at the observation point closest to the river mouth. This suggests that the plastic emission into the ocean from the Seine may also be considerably higher during increased discharge. Upstream of Paris plastic transport increased only with a factor 1.5, suggesting that most plastics originate from Paris or areas further downstream. With this paper we aim to shed additional light on the seasonal variation in riverine plastic transport and its distribution along the river length, which may benefit future long-term monitoring efforts and plastic pollution mitigation strategies.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00642/fullplastic pollutionplastic pollution monitoringhydrologymarine plastic debrisriver plasticFrance |
| spellingShingle | Tim van Emmerik Tim van Emmerik Romain Tramoy Caroline van Calcar Caroline van Calcar Soline Alligant Robin Treilles Bruno Tassin Johnny Gasperi Seine Plastic Debris Transport Tenfolded During Increased River Discharge Frontiers in Marine Science plastic pollution plastic pollution monitoring hydrology marine plastic debris river plastic France |
| title | Seine Plastic Debris Transport Tenfolded During Increased River Discharge |
| title_full | Seine Plastic Debris Transport Tenfolded During Increased River Discharge |
| title_fullStr | Seine Plastic Debris Transport Tenfolded During Increased River Discharge |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seine Plastic Debris Transport Tenfolded During Increased River Discharge |
| title_short | Seine Plastic Debris Transport Tenfolded During Increased River Discharge |
| title_sort | seine plastic debris transport tenfolded during increased river discharge |
| topic | plastic pollution plastic pollution monitoring hydrology marine plastic debris river plastic France |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00642/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT timvanemmerik seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge AT timvanemmerik seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge AT romaintramoy seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge AT carolinevancalcar seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge AT carolinevancalcar seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge AT solinealligant seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge AT robintreilles seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge AT brunotassin seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge AT johnnygasperi seineplasticdebristransporttenfoldedduringincreasedriverdischarge |