Microplastic Dispersal in Lake Ontario Driven by Lagrangian Coherent Structures

Microplastic Dispersal in Lake Ontario Driven by Lagrangian Coherent Structures | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Microplastic Dispersal in Lake Ontario Driven by Lagrangian Coherent Structures Sunghwan Jung This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959608/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The spatial distribution of microplastics in large bodies of water like Lake Ontario depends on the lake's hidden flow patterns. By analyzing a time series of offshore circulation and employing backward Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponent (FTLE) fields along with Lagrangian particle tracking, we find correlations between the Earth's rotation, basin-wide internal waves, and the localized fate of microplastic pollution. Our findings reveal two distinct regimes in pollution transport: a high-speed transport "Southern Conveyor Belt" that acts as a regional transport of plastics, and a low-speed or diffusive spread "Toronto Trap" that serves as a local accumulator of urban waste. Furthermore, Mean Square Displacement (MSD) analysis shows three distinct kinematic transport regimes governing this dispersal: an early-time diffusive regime, an intermediate super-ballistic regime driven by rapid spatial acceleration and shear dispersion into Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCS), and a late-time ballistic regime reflecting steady advection. This quantitative analysis confirms that particles released from southern sources travel significantly farther distances overall, reinforcing the contrast between the high-transport southern coastal jet and the low-transport northwestern retention zones. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8959608","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":599775097,"identity":"8713cd9c-595a-4c4c-a992-954afc549284","order_by":0,"name":"Sunghwan Jung","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAzElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFCC858f/6kAsxgPPAASDYS1HDAz4DkDZSYQp4XBQIK3jRQt8o0HEgwk59nJmc9uPgDUYiO74QAhKw4cOPDAcFuyscydYwlALWnGhLUwHGwwSNx2IHGGRI4BUMvhRIJa5BsOM0gcnAPSkv8BqOU/YS0MB44xSDY2gG0Bef8AYS0GB86wGTMcSzaWkEgDOswg2XgmQYfNOMP8mKHGTk5CIvnhgw8VdrJ9BB0mgaLCgJByEOBvIEbVKBgFo2AUjGgAAIdiS11SpbdUAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Cornell University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sunghwan","middleName":"","lastName":"Jung","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-24 16:38:30","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959608/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959608/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109100224,"identity":"eb14c812-da84-406a-9744-4598d10784c7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-12 14:20:48","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3233730,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MPinOntario.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8959608/v1_covered_1d30f0bc-0a06-4bdf-989b-bfcd0c9b3f9d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Microplastic Dispersal in Lake Ontario Driven by Lagrangian Coherent Structures","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959608/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8959608/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The spatial distribution of microplastics in large bodies of water like Lake Ontario depends on the lake's hidden flow patterns. By analyzing a time series of offshore circulation and employing backward Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponent (FTLE) fields along with Lagrangian particle tracking, we find correlations between the Earth's rotation, basin-wide internal waves, and the localized fate of microplastic pollution. Our findings reveal two distinct regimes in pollution transport: a high-speed transport \"Southern Conveyor Belt\" that acts as a regional transport of plastics, and a low-speed or diffusive spread \"Toronto Trap\" that serves as a local accumulator of urban waste. Furthermore, Mean Square Displacement (MSD) analysis shows three distinct kinematic transport regimes governing this dispersal: an early-time diffusive regime, an intermediate super-ballistic regime driven by rapid spatial acceleration and shear dispersion into Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCS), and a late-time ballistic regime reflecting steady advection. 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