River and Urban-Related Microplastic Pollution in the Gulf of America: A Modeling Study

River and Urban-Related Microplastic Pollution in the Gulf of America: A Modeling Study | 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 Article River and Urban-Related Microplastic Pollution in the Gulf of America: A Modeling Study Xing Zhou, Shuolin Xiao, Mireya Ramirez, Annalisa Bracco This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6597204/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Gulf of America (also known as Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf), faces increasing threats from microplastic (MP) pollution especially in its northern region where it receives substantial MP input from the Mississippi–Atchafalaya River system and direct discharges from wastewater treatment plants in coastal areas. The Gulf supports critical habitats for diverse marine species, making it vulnerable to MP contamination. In this study, a Lagrangian particle-tracking model coupled with a high-resolution (1 km) three-dimensional regional ocean model is used to investigate the short-term transport of MPs in the northern Gulf. MPs were released daily over a three-year period (2014–2016) and tracked for 30 days following their release. To assess ecological risks, we linked simulated MP dispersal patterns with habitat and marine protected area data compiled from previous studies and reports. The particle-tracking model accounts for individual MP characteristics, including size and density, and incorporates the influence of Stokes drift on floating MPs. Results show that particle density is key in determining the distribution of settled MPs, while its effect on non-settled MPs is limited. The impact of Stokes drift on the transport of floating MP is also very small. River-sourced MPs emerged as the dominant contributor to pollution in this region. Simulations revealed a prominent accumulation zone west of the Mississippi River Delta, which overlaps with several ecologically and economically important marine species habitats, including Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, red snapper, and bottlenose dolphins. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental chemistry Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 21 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 21 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 19 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 May, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 08 May, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 08 May, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 08 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 05 May, 2025 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-6597204","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":455517493,"identity":"f617c546-223e-4349-9e0e-12d1de3ce196","order_by":0,"name":"Xing Zhou","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHhD+b8cP4R0A4gRitMgwJ0s2MDA2kKDFhplxwwFitRicP3vwMU8OG7Px+cXPH3youcPAz55jgFeLZMO5ZGOeMzx8ZjeeGTbOOPaMQbLnDX4t/Iw9ZtK8PRLMZjcOGDbzNhxmMLhBwBY2Zh6gln8GjJtnHP/Y/BeoxZ6QFn42oBYengTGDfw9hs2MIFskCPmlh8fYcA7PgWSJGzyFM3uOHeaROPOsAK8Wg/NnDB+84Tlgx99/fMOHHzWH5fjbkzfg1YIAEglgiodI5SDAf4AExaNgFIyCUTCiAACcvkhIf5kmcQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Georgia Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xing","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhou","suffix":""},{"id":455517494,"identity":"028d33f1-757e-491d-90f0-287ac2c306bf","order_by":1,"name":"Shuolin Xiao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Johns Hopkins University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuolin","middleName":"","lastName":"Xiao","suffix":""},{"id":455517495,"identity":"1d572380-0365-4d10-b167-c82954a22f5b","order_by":2,"name":"Mireya Ramirez","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Georgia Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mireya","middleName":"","lastName":"Ramirez","suffix":""},{"id":455517496,"identity":"9eb30c98-1b0c-455e-9cda-88335ed0c2af","order_by":3,"name":"Annalisa Bracco","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Georgia Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Annalisa","middleName":"","lastName":"Bracco","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-05 20:23:17","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6597204/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6597204/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":82571243,"identity":"e183a4a8-c13a-488d-8d83-8a05a3e16a80","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-13 04:23:17","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1509184,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MPdraft20250501xzAB2SX2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6597204/v1_covered_73257515-9a86-4a53-b3a5-942fb9a8d677.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"River and Urban-Related Microplastic Pollution in the Gulf of America: A Modeling Study","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"npj-emerging-contaminants","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [npj Emerging Contaminants](https://www.nature.com/npjemergcontam/)","snPcode":"44454","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/44454/3","title":"npj Emerging Contaminants","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Unsupported Journal","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6597204/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6597204/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The Gulf of America (also known as Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf), faces increasing threats from microplastic (MP) pollution especially in its northern region where it receives substantial MP input from the Mississippi–Atchafalaya River system and direct discharges from wastewater treatment plants in coastal areas. The Gulf supports critical habitats for diverse marine species, making it vulnerable to MP contamination. In this study, a Lagrangian particle-tracking model coupled with a high-resolution (1 km) three-dimensional regional ocean model is used to investigate the short-term transport of MPs in the northern Gulf. MPs were released daily over a three-year period (2014–2016) and tracked for 30 days following their release. To assess ecological risks, we linked simulated MP dispersal patterns with habitat and marine protected area data compiled from previous studies and reports. The particle-tracking model accounts for individual MP characteristics, including size and density, and incorporates the influence of Stokes drift on floating MPs. Results show that particle density is key in determining the distribution of settled MPs, while its effect on non-settled MPs is limited. The impact of Stokes drift on the transport of floating MP is also very small. River-sourced MPs emerged as the dominant contributor to pollution in this region. Simulations revealed a prominent accumulation zone west of the Mississippi River Delta, which overlaps with several ecologically and economically important marine species habitats, including Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, red snapper, and bottlenose dolphins.","manuscriptTitle":"River and Urban-Related Microplastic Pollution in the Gulf of America: A Modeling Study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-13 04:15:12","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6597204/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-05-22T00:57:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-05-22T00:31:42+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-05-19T19:40:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"236386311020205363574053594602303520327","date":"2025-05-14T14:06:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"320172035771582178850172220170659020384","date":"2025-05-12T16:24:46+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-05-08T15:17:51+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-05-08T06:35:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-05-08T05:57:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"npj Emerging Contaminants","date":"2025-05-05T20:17:58+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"npj-emerging-contaminants","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [npj Emerging Contaminants](https://www.nature.com/npjemergcontam/)","snPcode":"44454","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/44454/3","title":"npj Emerging Contaminants","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Unsupported Journal","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"bba83d78-e25f-4fc3-b8f4-70b9aba3c132","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 13th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":48421049,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":48421050,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental chemistry"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-07-05T05:53:07+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-13 04:15:12","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6597204","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6597204","identity":"rs-6597204","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}