The Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences (XMAS 2025)

Styrofoams are widely used as a float in mariculture around the world. However, the occurrence of fragmented Styorfoams and their interaction with local plants are not clear in the deep layer of sediments. In the present study, field investigations were carried out at 8 sites along the coastline of China from July 2023 to October 2024. Our Results showed that the Styrofoams were buried by the raised sand dune at a depth of up to 1.5 m. The number of Styrofoams in the deep layer sand samples ranged from 94.28 to 3041.53 items/kg, and the average size ranged from 4.14 to 8.72 mm. The buried Styrofoams were bunched by plant roots in three ways, i.e., crossed, clung and wrapped. The crossed sample was treated with SafraninO-Fast Green staining, and the roots would cross through the gap between the smallest foams. Our study indicates that the buried Stryofoams could be bunched and remained in the sediment, providing new insight of the biogeochemical cycle of floating wastes.
 

Buried styrofoams,Plant roots,Bunched way,Biogeochemical cycle