Microplastics on Sandy Beaches and Coastal Dunes

Microplastics impact marine and terrestrial ecology and may pose a serious public health hazard when airborne, yet very little is known about their presence and wind-blown transport in the subaerial coastal zone, which in many parts of the world provides high-value ecosystem services. This PhD project aims to determine, for the first time, the exposure and connectivity of microplastics on sandy beaches and coastal dune systems subject to dispersal by wind. 

The project involves: 
1) fieldwork to sample sediment at several major beach-dune complexes around the UK (covering varying tidal ranges and wind regimes),
2) laboratory work with the latest model Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) microscope system, to detect and measure concentrations of all the major types of microplastics,
3) chemical and microscope laboratory work to explore weathering characteristics of marine and wind borne microplastics,
4) field experiments to measure in-situ transport of microplastics by wind from the beach into coastal dunes,
5) numerical modelling work to simulate aeolian microplastics transport.