Fluid dynamics challenges in predicting plastic pollution transport in the ocean: A perspective

Invited
Perspective

Fluid dynamics challenges in predicting plastic pollution transport in the ocean: A perspective

Bruce R. Sutherland, Michelle DiBenedetto, Alexis Kaminski, and Ton van den Bremer

Phys. Rev. Fluids 8, 070701 – Published 17 July 2023

Abstract

Plastic pollution has been observed throughout the world's oceans and estuaries, whether floating at the surface, settled in bottom sediments, washed up on beaches, or ingested by marine life. However, the vast majority of discarded plastics are unaccounted for. The problem of predicting the fate of discarded plastics has spurred fundamental research into fluid-particle interactions in previously unexplored regimes. Through talks and focused discussion groups taking place during a February 2022 online workshop hosted by the Banff International Research Station, theorists, experimentalists, numerical modelers, and observational oceanographers presented recent advances and identified outstanding problems in predicting plastic transport in the ocean, focusing on the role of fluid dynamics. The outcomes of this meeting and discussions that followed are reported upon here.

Received 27 April 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.8.070701

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Fluid-particle interactions Oceanography Surface gravity waves Turbulent multiphase flows

Fluid Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Bruce R. Sutherland ^1,2,*, Michelle DiBenedetto³, Alexis Kaminski ⁴, and Ton van den Bremer ^5,6

¹Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E1
²Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E3
³Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
⁴Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
⁵Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
⁶Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PJ, United Kingdom