Microplastics (MPs; size ≤ 5 mm) are considered emerging contaminants with a long half-life and legacy effects. Microplastics have been ubiquitous in the environment worldwide, including in lakes, rivers, groundwater, Arctic snow, and oceans. MPs raise serious pollution concerns due to their prevalence, long-range transport, persistence, and adverse health impacts. However, the processes and associated drivers of MP distribution, fate, and transport dynamics are not well-understood, particularly along the continuum from sources through rivers to estuaries.  Modeling and predictions of MP concentrations in waterbodies may involve high uncertainty, primarily due to the lack of observational data, as well as the parameterizations of a complex set of interactive and possibly scale-dependent physicochemical processes. This session invites abstracts on sources, abundance, controls, transport dynamics, modeling and predictions of MP distribution in aquatic ecosystems, including streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries.

• A - Atmospheric Sciences
• B - Biogeosciences
• GC - Global Environmental Change
• GH - GeoHealth