Debris

Plastic waste

Wastewater

Drainage basin

Sediment

Engineering

Biology

Geotechnical engineering

Dormancy

Geomorphology

Cartography

Plume

Fishery

Discharge

Seed dormancy

Botany

Geology

Oceanography

Waste management

Environmental engineering

Stratification (seeds)

Surface water

Plastic pollution

Microplastics

Geography

Hydrology (agriculture)

Environmental science

Abundance (ecology)

Suspended solids

Marine debris

Estuary

Meteorology

River mouth

Germination

Water Research

The role of rivers as a major transport pathway for all sizes of plastic debris into the ocean is widely recognized. Global modelling studies ranked the Changjiang River as the largest contributor of plastic waste to the marine environment, but these estimates were based on insufficient empirical data. To better understand the role of rivers in delivering terrestrial plastic debris to the ocean, the spatial and temporal patterns of microplastics (MP) in the Changjiang Estuary (CE) and the East China Sea (ECS) were studied based on surface water samples in February, May, and July 2017. A total of 3225 MP (60–5000 μm) were identified by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry. MP abundance in July was higher than in February and May due to higher river discharge. Density stratification in CE significantly influenced the surface MP abundances. A temporal accumulation zone within the river-sea interface for plastics was indicated by stations with apparently higher abundances in the river plume. Fibers were the most common MP (>80%) over three months. Small MP (

Analysis of suspended microplastics in the Changjiang Estuary: Implications for riverine plastic load to the ocean