PhD Thesis
Microplastic behavior in the stream/hyporheic zone system
Support: Sven Frei, Jan Fleckenstein, Seema Agarval
Microplastics are one of the most relevant contaminants of the modern world. They are widespread in the entirety of the world, from the highest levels of the troposphere to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The hyporheic zone of rivers has been long studied for their microplastic contents, as it can act both as a sink as a source of contamination. With in-lab analyses, we investigate the capacity of the hyporheic zone to both act as a sink, by investigating how deep microplastics can infiltrate it, and as a source, by investigating the release of microplastics in high flow events.