Annual Flux Estimation¶
TL;DR¶
+============================================+
| ☁️Total Atmospheric MnP Burden |
+============================================+
| Marine | Land |
+---------------------|----------------------+
| | |
| <25 | N.A. |
| | |
+============================================+
/| | | |\
marine | | | | land
ejection| |deposit deposit| |emission
| | | |
8.6 - 22| | <25 N.A.| | N.A.
| |/ \| |
+=========================+ +=========================+
| 🌊Ocean Mnp Burden | | 🏞️Land Mnp Burden |
+=========================+ +=========================+
| Deposition | Land D. | | Ocean D. | Deposition |
| 0.013-25 | N.A. | | N.A. | N.A. |
+-------------------------+ +-------------------------+
| land src: | | | | land src: |
| <25 | | | | N.A. |
| ocean src: | | | | ocean src: |
| 99% marine | | | | 7% marine |
| ejection | | | | ejection |
+=========================+ +=========================+
| /|\ | /|\
| | fluvial (5-13) | |
| +----------------+ |
+------------------------+
offshore emission (0.14)
Figure 1. Annual Flux Estimates of Atmospheric Micro(nano)plastics (MnP): Exchange and Deposition Dynamics between Oceanic, Terrestrial, and Atmospheric Compartments (in Mt/year).
Explanation¶
Marine Ejection: emission from ocean to atmosphere (bubble burst, sea spray, resuspension)
Marine Recycling: deposition from marine sources. When deposition occurs in the ocean, ~99% particles ejected from the sea are recycled back to the ocean. When deposition occurs on land, ~7% of particles ejected from the sea were on land.
Land Emission: Tyre wear, brake wear, soil erosion, resuspension
Fluvial: Riverine transport of MnP from land to ocean
Deposition Mechanisms
Dry Deposition: Gravity-driven settling of particles directly onto surfaces.
Wet Deposition: Removal of particles via precipitation.
Nucleation scavenging (rainout): Particles incorporated into cloud droplets during cloud formation.
Impaction scavenging (washout): Particles captured by raindrops as they fall.
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