South Pacific garbage patch
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The South Pacific garbage patch is an area of ocean with increased levels of
marine debris Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a sea or ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing ...
and plastic particle pollution, within the ocean's
pelagic zone The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...
. This area is in the
South Pacific Gyre __NOTOC__ The Southern Pacific Gyre is part of the Earth's system of rotating ocean currents, bounded by the Equator to the north, Australia to the west, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the south, and South America to the east. The center ...
, which itself spans from waters east of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
to the
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
n continent, as far north as the
Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...
, and south until reaching the
Antarctic Circumpolar Current The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is an ocean current that flows clockwise (as seen from the South Pole) from west to east around Antarctica. An alternative name for the ACC is the West Wind Drift. The ACC is the dominant circulation feat ...
. The degradation of plastics in the ocean also leads to a rise in the level of toxics in the area. The garbage patch was confirmed in mid-2017, and has been compared to the Great Pacific garbage patch's state in 2007, making the former ten years younger. The South Pacific garbage patch is impossible to detect using satellites, or other visual means as most particles are smaller than a grain of rice.


Discovery

Evidence pointing to the existence of a garbage patch in the South Pacific gyre was made in early 2011 and its existence was confirmed in mid-2017. The discovery was made after a research voyage made by the
5 Gyres The 5 Gyres Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that focuses on reducing plastics pollution by focusing on primary research. Programs concentrate on science, education and adventure (research expeditions for citizen-scientists). Since ...
Institute. The voyage ran from March to April 2011, following a route based on a model of ocean currents developed by Nikolia Maximenko of the
University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, which predicts floating debris accumulation zones. The expedition started taking samples off the coast of
Robinson Crusoe Island Robinson Crusoe Island ( es, Isla Róbinson Crusoe, ), formerly known as Más a Tierra (), is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, situated 670 km (362 nmi; 416 mi) west of San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Oc ...
, Chile, and began working its way west, collecting new samples every 50 nautical miles, reaching the waters off
Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
, and eventually
Pitcairn Island Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS ''Bounty''. Geography The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff coastline. Unlike many other ...
. A second water sampling voyage departing from
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
on November 2, 2016, lasting six months, was led by Charles J. Moore, and a team of researchers from Algalita Marine Research and Education. Upon departure the vessel began its journey south along the Baja California peninsula and on to the Galapagos Islands, continuing southwest on to Easter Island. After departing Easter Island the crew then headed eastward to the
Juan Fernandez Islands ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...
, after which it continued north following the coast of Chile, with stopping points at
Antofagasta, Chile Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...
, and
Arica, Chile Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the capita ...
, before heading further out to sea for its return journey to Long Beach.


Composition, concentration and size

During the 5 Gyres expedition, 48 samples were taken from a 2,424 nautical sweep. The researchers found an increase in plastic pollution density, averaging 26,898 particles per square kilometer, but spiking at up to 396,342 particles per square kilometer, peaking near the center of the predicted accumulation zone, with some estimates as high as one million particles per square kilometer. The composition of the garbage patch consists mainly of
microbead Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than one millimeter in their largest dimension. They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. They are u ...
s, tiny abrasives less than 5 micrometers in size usually found in certain personal hygiene products, microscopic fibers from washing clothes, fishing debris from southern hemisphere fishermen, and microscopic fragments of larger pieces which have been broken down in the ocean. The elevated levels of pollutants can be detected over a vast area estimated to be 2.6 million square kilometers (one million square miles), or about 1.5 times the size of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, with the debris found along a nearly 2,500 nautical mile straight line route.


Effects on marine life and the ocean


See also

*
South Atlantic Gyre The South Atlantic Gyre is the subtropical gyre in the south Atlantic Ocean. In the southern portion of the gyre, northwesterly (or southeastward-flowing) winds drive eastward-flowing currents that are difficult to distinguish from the northern ...
*
Plastic pollution Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are cate ...


References


Further reading

* {{Marine pollution Marine garbage patches Pacific Ocean Plastics and the environment