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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Coastal Ocean Processes
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1524585
This article is part of the Research Topic Advanced Monitoring, Modelling, and Analysis of Coastal Environments and Ecosystems View all 18 articles

Mapping Microplastic Pathways and Accumulation Zones in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea -Insights from Modeling

Provisionally accepted

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A hydrodynamic model coupled with a particle tracking model was used to identify the pathways and accumulation areas of microplastics (MP) in the Gulf of Finland (GoF) over a three-year period (2018)(2019)(2020). Two key sources, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and rivers, were considered, focusing on polypropylene (PP)/polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) particles sized 20-500 μm. Rivers contribute 76% of total MP entering the gulf, while WWTPs account for the remaining 24%. Most of the MP accumulates inside the gulf and does not drift to the Baltic Proper. The eastern part of the gulf exhibits the highest surface concentrations of particles influenced by the Neva River. In the water column, MP concentrations were notably high in shallow coastal areas, decreasing gradually offshore. Potential MP accumulation zones were identified primarily between longitudes 28 °E and 30 °E, particularly near the major rivers Narva and Kymi and in the easternmost gulf related to the Neva River discharge. The MP concentrations in the surface layer and water column were higher in winter while settling was more intense in summer. Short-term variability in the surface layer was caused by (sub)mesoscale advection and divergence/convergence, while in the near-bottom layer, strong bottom currents and consequent resuspension elevated the concentrations.

    Keywords: microplastic pathways, Gulf of Finland, Hydrodynamic modeling, Particle accumulation, microplastic distribution

    Received: 07 Nov 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mishra, Siht, Väli, Liblik, Buhhalko and Lips. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Arun Mishra, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.