On the Dynamics of Floating Plastic Debris Under the Action of Waves on the Sea Surface. Numerical Modeling

Grigoriy E. Hazanov; S. A. Ermakov

doi:10.2205/2026es001093

UDC 55 CSCSTI 37.00 Russian Classification of Professions by Education 05.00.00 Russian Library and Bibliographic Classification 26 Russian Trade and Bibliographic Classification 63 BISAC SCI CSCSTI 38.00

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ON THE DYNAMICS OF FLOATING PLASTIC DEBRIS UNDER THE ACTION OF WAVES ON THE SEA SURFACE. NUMERICAL MODELING On the Dynamics of Floating Plastic Debris Under the Action of Waves on the Sea Surface. Numerical Modeling

АА Аа

Published in Russian Journal of Earth Sciences · Volume 26, Issue 1 · ELocator: ES1002 · Rubric: ORIGINAL ARTICLES

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2205/2026es001093 · EDN: LWEBTI

Received: 27.10.2025 Accepted: 02.12.2025 Published: 29.01.2026 Language of publication: en-US

Authors

Grigoriy E. Hazanov

ORCID

S. A. Ermakov

ORCID

Grigoriy E. Hazanov

A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Researcher · Department of Radiophysical Methods in Hydrophysics · Russian Federation · Nizhny Novgorod

ORCID

S. A. Ermakov

A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Russian Federation

Volga State University of Water Transport Russian Federation

ORCID

ABSTRACT

Ocean plastic pollution poses a serious environmental threat to both natural ecosystems and human health. An important field of research on this problem is the development of the physical foundations and methods of remote sensing of plastic debris (PD). The plastic in the ocean and inland waters is largely associated with buoyant polyethylene (PE) films, which are expected to be located the water surface. However, everyday observations show that plastic objects, including PE films, are partially or completely submerged in the near-surface water layer, even though the density of these fragments is lower than that of water. This makes detecting plastic pollution using radar methods more challenging than might be expected. This paper is focused on numerical modeling of an initial stage of the dynamics of a buoyant plastic film placed on the water surface when an intense gravity-capillary wave (GCW) approaches the film. The modeling is performed using the open-source software “OpenFOAM”. It has been revealed that for a highly nonlinear GCW with a bulge structure near the wave crest, there is an “overflow” of water over the film with subsequent sinking of its edge. It has also been obtained that a buoyant PE film sank below the water surface rises slower in the presence of GCW than in the “no wave” case. The explanation of the film immersion effect is given based on the hypothesis that an averaged hydrodynamic force directed against the Archimedean force arises in the field of the orbital wave motions of the liquid particles.

KEYWORDS

Plastic debris in water, polyethylene films, gravity-capillary waves, remote sensing

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project No 23-17-00167). The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Hazanov G. E., Ermakov S. A. On the Dynamics of Floating Plastic Debris Under the Action of Waves on the Sea Surface. Numerical Modeling // Russian Journal of Earth Sciences. 2024. no. 1. ES1002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2205/2026es001093. EDN: LWEBTI. (Date of access 10.11.2026).

MLA

Grigoriy E. Hazanov, Ermakov S. A.. "On the Dynamics of Floating Plastic Debris Under the Action of Waves on the Sea Surface. Numerical Modeling." Russian Journal of Earth Sciences 26.1 (2024): ES1002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2205/2026es001093. EDN: LWEBTI.

APA

Hazanov G. E., Ermakov S. A. (2024). On the Dynamics of Floating Plastic Debris Under the Action of Waves on the Sea Surface. Numerical Modeling. Russian Journal of Earth Sciences, 26(1), ES1002. https://doi.org/10.2205/2026es001093 EDN: LWEBTI.

Chicago

Grigoriy E. Hazanov, Ermakov S. A.. "On the Dynamics of Floating Plastic Debris Under the Action of Waves on the Sea Surface. Numerical Modeling." Russian Journal of Earth Sciences 26, no. 1 (2024): ES1002. https://doi.org/10.2205/2026es001093. EDN: LWEBTI.

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{{cite journal | author = Hazanov G. E., Ermakov S. A. | title = On the Dynamics of Floating Plastic Debris Under the Action of Waves on the Sea Surface. Numerical Modeling | journal = Russian Journal of Earth Sciences | year = 2024 | volume = 26 | issue = 1 | pages = ES1002 | doi = 10.2205/2026es001093 }} EDN: LWEBTI

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ON THE DYNAMICS OF FLOATING PLASTIC DEBRIS UNDER THE ACTION OF WAVES ON THE SEA SURFACE. NUMERICAL MODELING On the Dynamics of Floating Plastic Debris Under the Action of Waves on the Sea Surface. Numerical Modeling

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