Transport behaviour of microplastics in lentic systems: Influence of hydrodynamic conditions and aggregation on microplastic residence times and spatial distribution patterns of microplastics (B02)

• Subject Area: Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
• Term: since 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 391977956

B02 focuses within the CRC 1357 on using laboratory and field experiments to quantify the processes effecting chemically complex microplastic (MP) transport and it’s spatial distribution in lentic environments. The complexity and representativeness of the plastic polymers used in these experiments will be significantly increased compared to the 1. FP and more truly represent the processes happing in nature. The project is divided into three work packages, encompassing interactions between MP and existing lake particles to form aggregates (WP1), the influence of turbulence generated by abiotic and biotic processes on MP transport in the water column (WP2) and incorporating experimental data into a range of modelling environments to quantify the processes effecting MP transport in the water column and its spatial distribution in lake systems (WP3)(whole lake simulations).

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1357: MICROPLASTICS - Understanding the mechanisms and processes of biological effects, transport and formation: From model to complex systems as a basis for new solutions
• Applicant Institution: Universität Bayreuth
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Vadym Aizinger; Professor Dr. Jan Fleckenstein, until 12/2022; Dr. Benjamin Silas Gilfedder, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Martin Obst, until 12/2022