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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Pollution
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1534678

Processes controlling the dispersion and beaching of floating marine debris in the Barcelona coastal region

Provisionally accepted
Ivan Hernandez Ivan Hernandez 1*Leidy Maricela Castro Rosero Leidy Maricela Castro Rosero 2Manuel Espino Infantes Manuel Espino Infantes 1Jose M. Alsina Jose M. Alsina 1
  • 1 Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
  • 2 University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

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

    Coastal areas are considered potential sinks for plastic in marine environments. Data from a Lagrangian numerical simulation at a coastal scale using high-resolution hydrodynamic information and observational data of river debris discharge were analysed to determine the environmental variables from meteorological forcing or coastline orientation contributing to particle beaching.The beaching likelihood parameter revealed the influence of coastal geometry on particle deposition in an area. Comparisons with other studies regarding beaching amounts and particle residence times are challenging due to the scale difference. The complexity of the beaching process makes it difficult to establish relationships with hydrodynamic variables, although a clear association between the coastline orientation and wave direction was established. The debris mass contribution from the two rivers included in the simulation was two orders of magnitude lower than indicated in other studies for the area.

    Keywords: marine debris, Plastic pollution, marine litter, dispersion, Beaching, Lagrangian numerical modelling, Coastal regions, plastic particles

    Received: 26 Nov 2024; Accepted: 24 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hernandez, Castro Rosero, Espino Infantes and Alsina. 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: Ivan Hernandez, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

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