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I have split this article from North Pacific Gyre. See Talk:North Pacific Gyre for some discussion of this topic. -- Alan Liefting- ( talk) - 22:53, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
I agree with the above in that while their might be a reason to split the articles in the future, due to the small size of each currently, they should remain together so as to provide the reader with the full gambit of information rather than forcing them to visit both pages. An earlier poster argued that there is a disproportionate amount of information on the garbage aspect, but that doesn't mean that the garbage isnt the most important/prevalent issue and therefor should be included with the main article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.226.80.226 ( talk) 21:02, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
The article needs a section on "history of human understanding", and a documentation of any significant academic study or research into the Garbage Patch. — Jack ( talk) 03:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
I seem to remember the garbage patch being mentioned in WWII memoirs. I'm trying to remember which. What I do remember is that the first time I saw it mentioned, the most visible garbage mentioned was glass fishing buoys used near Japan. These were anywhere from an inch or two wide to 2 feet in diameter and were wrapped in rope netting. They were used from 1910 to ????? (1939 - millions in use). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.152.220.168 ( talk) 13:02, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
And yet, after all this time, and all these headlines there is not one single verifiable photograph of this alleged mass of waste that is twice the size of Texas...how is this piece of folklore encyclopedia material?
194.75.171.33 ( talk) 11:13, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
Is Moore lying or mistaken about this, or is there really "an enormous stretch of floating debris"?-- 65.189.54.153 ( talk) 16:09, 30 May 2009 (UTC)The existence of the garbage patch received wider public and scientific attention after it was documented in several articles written by Charles Moore, a California-based sea captain and ocean researcher. Moore, returning home through the North Pacific Gyre after competing in the Transpac sailing race, came upon an enormous stretch of floating debris.
A total of 27 698 small pieces of plastic weighing 424 g were collected from the surface water at stations in the gyre, yielding a mean abundance of 3 34 271 pieces km2 and a mean mass of 5114 g/km2. Abundance ranged from 31 982 pieces km2 to 969 777 pieces/km2, and mass ranged from 64 to 30 169 g km2. Plastic fragments accounted for the majority of the material collected in the smaller size categories. Thin plastic films, such as those used in sandwich bags, accounted for half of the abundance in the second largest size category, and pieces of line (polypropylene and monofilament) comprised the greatest fraction of the material collected in the largest size category.
More as I find it.
Here's the link to Day 1988.
http://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/TM/SWFSC/NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-154_P247.PDF
Day postulated the existence of the patch
After entering the ocean, however, neuston plastic is redistributed by currents and winds. For example, plastic entering the ocean in Japan is moved eastward by the Subarctic Current (in Subarctic Water) and the Kuroshio (in Transitional Water, Kawai 1972; Favorite et al. 1976; Nagata et al. 1986). In this way, the plastic is transported from high-density areas to low-density areas. In addition to this eastward movement, Ekman stress from winds tends to move surface waters from the subarctic and the subtropics toward the Transitional Water mass as a whole (see Roden 1970: fig. 5). Because of the convergent nature of this Ekman flow, densities tend to be high in Transitional Water. In addition, the generally convergent nature of water in the North Pacific Central Gyre (Masuzawa 1972) should result in high densities there also. (Day, 1988, 261)
Eusebeus (
talk)
14:29, 18 July 2008 (UTC)
Random research notes:
The section on wildlife impact is only partially accurate and needs major reworking. Expand source beyond Moore.
Original:
The floating particles also resemble
zooplankton, which can lead to them being consumed by
jellyfish, thus entering the ocean
food chain.
[1] In samples taken from the gyre in 2001, the mass of plastic exceeded that of zooplankton (the dominant animal life in the area) by a factor of seven. Many of these long-lasting pieces end up in the stomachs of marine
birds and animals,
[2] including
sea turtles, and
Black-footed Albatross.
[1] Besides ingestion and entanglement of wildlife, the floating debris absorbs toxins in the water which, when ingested, are mistaken by the animal brain for
estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected wildlife.
[1]
OK, i have reorganized this - thus we have a definition section, a section on genesis, then one on sequelae ec. It then needs one on govt legislation/general acceptance etc. Cheers, Casliber ( talk · contribs) 01:16, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
There are citations noted in the text, but the citations don't lead to any sort of list of sources or bibliography -- in other words, what's here is backed up by footnote numbers that don't lead to footnotes. This needs to be fixed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.198.72.21 ( talk) 17:13, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
A recent comment here that was deleted as "vandalism" asked a valid questions: why are there not satellite images of this thing?
I do not have any answer to that question. One would imagine that it would show up at least as a colour shift in the ocean.
(The poster actually asked for it on google earth. The reason it does not appear there, is simply that google earth hardly has any pictures at all of the sea. However, it could appear on other satellite or air pictures.) Mlewan ( talk) 05:01, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
WHY THERE IS NO PICTURE
An Explanation from
Eusebeus
As attentive readers will observe, the "garbage patch" is defined as a very high concentration of pelagic plastics in the upper part of the water column. I appreciate that at first reading, it seems as if this means a huge debris field floating around this remote corner of the Pacific. Instead, it refers to an area where there is unusually high concentration of plastic particulate. Since plastics break down to ever smaller polymers, this means that such concentrated particulate matter will not be visible from space, nor show up as a continuous debris field. Eusebeus ( talk) 16:04, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
Well that's a non-explanation. I've never heard of "the centripetal tendency", so I clicked on it expecting to be taken to a definition of some physical mechanism in oceanic currents that draws surface water inward. Instead it links to Centripetal force, which is unhelpful and probably inappropriate. Melchoir ( talk) 01:42, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Makes material collect toward a center, as explained in the link. I will restore the sentence. Eusebeus ( talk) 03:53, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.215.0.164 ( talk) 19:37, 3 November 2008 (UTC)
is there an image or coordinates for a satellite image of the garbage?
The plastic is broken down in to small sand size pieces, so you can't really see them, especially from a satellite. 66.54.212.101 ( talk) 16:48, 5 August 2009 (UTC)
I would like to see the addition of some possible solutions
I think it would be possible to refit a Cargo ship with a conveyor
system that skims the surface of the ocean pulling the plastic soup on
to sorting belts where sea life can be diverted back to the sea and
sort out the recyclables. these belts then lead to compactors that
form the trash into blocks that can be loaded into Cargo containers.
that later get off loaded at a friendly port where the recyclables
will be shipped to the appropriate facility and the non recyclable is
sent where it can be dealt with properly. I would like to make the
plan of attack a separate Wiki articular but I do not know how to
create one. if someone can help me start the page I have been
thinking hard on this and have lots of ideas to share on the subjuct.
We share the details of the problems lets share our way to the solution
John Kuczwara jwktrucker@gmail.com I may not be able to it alone but I will do everything I can.
—Preceding
unsigned comment added by
User:JWKTrucker (
talk •
contribs)
A lot of people identify this by "The Plastic Continent" or "Plastic Continent" so it might be pertinent to redirect those who search for that to this page. I'm not the most experienced editor so I don't know how to do that. If someone else either tell me or do themselves that would probably help a lot of people. Thanks. Zax11029 ( talk) 05:47, 15 May 2009 (UTC)
As there is no visible 'garbage patch', isn't it better to make this explicit? Is there a reputable alternative name for this and similar regions?
I would also say the photo of the 'Laysan Albatros' is misleading, as it can easily be inferred to be part of the 'garbage patch', when it is not. Suggestion: delete the picture.
( TresRoque ( talk) 18:42, 19 June 2009 (UTC))
The introduction is hyperbole. An 'exceptionally' high level of plastic, which amounts to an average of three 5-milligram sized pieces of plastic per square metre. No doubt that is troublesome and ecologically damaging, but the introduction gives a non-scientific reader the impression of something thousands of times more severe. May I put the '3 x 5 milligram' fact into the introduction? ( Kipwatson ( talk) 01:13, 9 August 2009 (UTC)).
It seems that the estimation of size as double Texas is dubious. Even the existence of the patch seems to come from articles that quote only Charles Moore. I am seeing references quoting lots of newspapers that all quote Moore. I am not biased. Personally, I think this thing probably exists, and is the size Moore estimates. I am just having trouble with the claims vs. the quantity of independent, corroborating sources.-- Anna Frodesiak ( talk) 01:49, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
I found this.
Circa June 10, 2009. A group of scientists and conservationists are planning a two-month trip to examine the gyre. Jim Dufour, of the Scripps Institution of Oceangraphy is advising the trip. [3]
I am not quite clear on it. This is Moore and a bunch of scientists. There are several articles about this mostly talking about fish and how thrilling it is to pass the date line. I don't see much about the GPGP apart from phrases from old info.
The trip apparently has ended at their destination at the north end of the Hawaiian islands. I thought the GPGP was to the south. What gives?--
Anna Frodesiak (
talk)
14:25, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
[4] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.33.71.34 ( talk) 15:54, 5 August 2009 (UTC)
Could someone with an SVG editor fix File:Currents.svg The words "current" in the bottom right key have been truncated. -- SGBailey ( talk) 08:33, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
I propose we retitle the section "Density of neustonic plastics" to something that avoids the use of the word "neustonic." Rationale:
If you look at the edit history yesterday (2010-02-09), you will find that, for a short time, the section word "neustonic" was modified to " Neuston|neustonic". By clicking to the Neuston article, only after studying the edit history and finding the root word, I learned what neustonic means. But this would not help the vast majority of readers who come to Wikipedia with only a vernacular understanding of the English language, nor a user of mobile Wikipedia (en.m.wikipedia.org) on a smartphone (smallscreen) device where only section headings are shown until/unless the reader chooses to expand the section. N2e ( talk) 11:28, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
Note to Eusebeus: let's discuss the article in this Talk item, not the editor. N2e ( talk)
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has one of the highest levels known of plastic particulate suspended in the upper water column. As a result, it is one of several oceanic regions where researchers have studied the effects and impact of plastic photodegradation in the neustonic layer of water. [3]
Look like scientist have now found one in the North Atlantic, news source Gnan garra 04:19, 26 February 2010 (UTC)
mindfully
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).{{
cite journal}}
: More than one of |periodical=
and |journal=
specified (
help); line feed character in |periodical=
at position 11 (
help); line feed character in |title=
at position 14 (
help)
![]() | This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Archive 3 |
I have split this article from North Pacific Gyre. See Talk:North Pacific Gyre for some discussion of this topic. -- Alan Liefting- ( talk) - 22:53, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
I agree with the above in that while their might be a reason to split the articles in the future, due to the small size of each currently, they should remain together so as to provide the reader with the full gambit of information rather than forcing them to visit both pages. An earlier poster argued that there is a disproportionate amount of information on the garbage aspect, but that doesn't mean that the garbage isnt the most important/prevalent issue and therefor should be included with the main article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.226.80.226 ( talk) 21:02, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
The article needs a section on "history of human understanding", and a documentation of any significant academic study or research into the Garbage Patch. — Jack ( talk) 03:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
I seem to remember the garbage patch being mentioned in WWII memoirs. I'm trying to remember which. What I do remember is that the first time I saw it mentioned, the most visible garbage mentioned was glass fishing buoys used near Japan. These were anywhere from an inch or two wide to 2 feet in diameter and were wrapped in rope netting. They were used from 1910 to ????? (1939 - millions in use). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.152.220.168 ( talk) 13:02, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
And yet, after all this time, and all these headlines there is not one single verifiable photograph of this alleged mass of waste that is twice the size of Texas...how is this piece of folklore encyclopedia material?
194.75.171.33 ( talk) 11:13, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
Is Moore lying or mistaken about this, or is there really "an enormous stretch of floating debris"?-- 65.189.54.153 ( talk) 16:09, 30 May 2009 (UTC)The existence of the garbage patch received wider public and scientific attention after it was documented in several articles written by Charles Moore, a California-based sea captain and ocean researcher. Moore, returning home through the North Pacific Gyre after competing in the Transpac sailing race, came upon an enormous stretch of floating debris.
A total of 27 698 small pieces of plastic weighing 424 g were collected from the surface water at stations in the gyre, yielding a mean abundance of 3 34 271 pieces km2 and a mean mass of 5114 g/km2. Abundance ranged from 31 982 pieces km2 to 969 777 pieces/km2, and mass ranged from 64 to 30 169 g km2. Plastic fragments accounted for the majority of the material collected in the smaller size categories. Thin plastic films, such as those used in sandwich bags, accounted for half of the abundance in the second largest size category, and pieces of line (polypropylene and monofilament) comprised the greatest fraction of the material collected in the largest size category.
More as I find it.
Here's the link to Day 1988.
http://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/TM/SWFSC/NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-154_P247.PDF
Day postulated the existence of the patch
After entering the ocean, however, neuston plastic is redistributed by currents and winds. For example, plastic entering the ocean in Japan is moved eastward by the Subarctic Current (in Subarctic Water) and the Kuroshio (in Transitional Water, Kawai 1972; Favorite et al. 1976; Nagata et al. 1986). In this way, the plastic is transported from high-density areas to low-density areas. In addition to this eastward movement, Ekman stress from winds tends to move surface waters from the subarctic and the subtropics toward the Transitional Water mass as a whole (see Roden 1970: fig. 5). Because of the convergent nature of this Ekman flow, densities tend to be high in Transitional Water. In addition, the generally convergent nature of water in the North Pacific Central Gyre (Masuzawa 1972) should result in high densities there also. (Day, 1988, 261)
Eusebeus (
talk)
14:29, 18 July 2008 (UTC)
Random research notes:
The section on wildlife impact is only partially accurate and needs major reworking. Expand source beyond Moore.
Original:
The floating particles also resemble
zooplankton, which can lead to them being consumed by
jellyfish, thus entering the ocean
food chain.
[1] In samples taken from the gyre in 2001, the mass of plastic exceeded that of zooplankton (the dominant animal life in the area) by a factor of seven. Many of these long-lasting pieces end up in the stomachs of marine
birds and animals,
[2] including
sea turtles, and
Black-footed Albatross.
[1] Besides ingestion and entanglement of wildlife, the floating debris absorbs toxins in the water which, when ingested, are mistaken by the animal brain for
estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected wildlife.
[1]
OK, i have reorganized this - thus we have a definition section, a section on genesis, then one on sequelae ec. It then needs one on govt legislation/general acceptance etc. Cheers, Casliber ( talk · contribs) 01:16, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
There are citations noted in the text, but the citations don't lead to any sort of list of sources or bibliography -- in other words, what's here is backed up by footnote numbers that don't lead to footnotes. This needs to be fixed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.198.72.21 ( talk) 17:13, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
A recent comment here that was deleted as "vandalism" asked a valid questions: why are there not satellite images of this thing?
I do not have any answer to that question. One would imagine that it would show up at least as a colour shift in the ocean.
(The poster actually asked for it on google earth. The reason it does not appear there, is simply that google earth hardly has any pictures at all of the sea. However, it could appear on other satellite or air pictures.) Mlewan ( talk) 05:01, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
WHY THERE IS NO PICTURE
An Explanation from
Eusebeus
As attentive readers will observe, the "garbage patch" is defined as a very high concentration of pelagic plastics in the upper part of the water column. I appreciate that at first reading, it seems as if this means a huge debris field floating around this remote corner of the Pacific. Instead, it refers to an area where there is unusually high concentration of plastic particulate. Since plastics break down to ever smaller polymers, this means that such concentrated particulate matter will not be visible from space, nor show up as a continuous debris field. Eusebeus ( talk) 16:04, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
Well that's a non-explanation. I've never heard of "the centripetal tendency", so I clicked on it expecting to be taken to a definition of some physical mechanism in oceanic currents that draws surface water inward. Instead it links to Centripetal force, which is unhelpful and probably inappropriate. Melchoir ( talk) 01:42, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Makes material collect toward a center, as explained in the link. I will restore the sentence. Eusebeus ( talk) 03:53, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.215.0.164 ( talk) 19:37, 3 November 2008 (UTC)
is there an image or coordinates for a satellite image of the garbage?
The plastic is broken down in to small sand size pieces, so you can't really see them, especially from a satellite. 66.54.212.101 ( talk) 16:48, 5 August 2009 (UTC)
I would like to see the addition of some possible solutions
I think it would be possible to refit a Cargo ship with a conveyor
system that skims the surface of the ocean pulling the plastic soup on
to sorting belts where sea life can be diverted back to the sea and
sort out the recyclables. these belts then lead to compactors that
form the trash into blocks that can be loaded into Cargo containers.
that later get off loaded at a friendly port where the recyclables
will be shipped to the appropriate facility and the non recyclable is
sent where it can be dealt with properly. I would like to make the
plan of attack a separate Wiki articular but I do not know how to
create one. if someone can help me start the page I have been
thinking hard on this and have lots of ideas to share on the subjuct.
We share the details of the problems lets share our way to the solution
John Kuczwara jwktrucker@gmail.com I may not be able to it alone but I will do everything I can.
—Preceding
unsigned comment added by
User:JWKTrucker (
talk •
contribs)
A lot of people identify this by "The Plastic Continent" or "Plastic Continent" so it might be pertinent to redirect those who search for that to this page. I'm not the most experienced editor so I don't know how to do that. If someone else either tell me or do themselves that would probably help a lot of people. Thanks. Zax11029 ( talk) 05:47, 15 May 2009 (UTC)
As there is no visible 'garbage patch', isn't it better to make this explicit? Is there a reputable alternative name for this and similar regions?
I would also say the photo of the 'Laysan Albatros' is misleading, as it can easily be inferred to be part of the 'garbage patch', when it is not. Suggestion: delete the picture.
( TresRoque ( talk) 18:42, 19 June 2009 (UTC))
The introduction is hyperbole. An 'exceptionally' high level of plastic, which amounts to an average of three 5-milligram sized pieces of plastic per square metre. No doubt that is troublesome and ecologically damaging, but the introduction gives a non-scientific reader the impression of something thousands of times more severe. May I put the '3 x 5 milligram' fact into the introduction? ( Kipwatson ( talk) 01:13, 9 August 2009 (UTC)).
It seems that the estimation of size as double Texas is dubious. Even the existence of the patch seems to come from articles that quote only Charles Moore. I am seeing references quoting lots of newspapers that all quote Moore. I am not biased. Personally, I think this thing probably exists, and is the size Moore estimates. I am just having trouble with the claims vs. the quantity of independent, corroborating sources.-- Anna Frodesiak ( talk) 01:49, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
I found this.
Circa June 10, 2009. A group of scientists and conservationists are planning a two-month trip to examine the gyre. Jim Dufour, of the Scripps Institution of Oceangraphy is advising the trip. [3]
I am not quite clear on it. This is Moore and a bunch of scientists. There are several articles about this mostly talking about fish and how thrilling it is to pass the date line. I don't see much about the GPGP apart from phrases from old info.
The trip apparently has ended at their destination at the north end of the Hawaiian islands. I thought the GPGP was to the south. What gives?--
Anna Frodesiak (
talk)
14:25, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
[4] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.33.71.34 ( talk) 15:54, 5 August 2009 (UTC)
Could someone with an SVG editor fix File:Currents.svg The words "current" in the bottom right key have been truncated. -- SGBailey ( talk) 08:33, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
I propose we retitle the section "Density of neustonic plastics" to something that avoids the use of the word "neustonic." Rationale:
If you look at the edit history yesterday (2010-02-09), you will find that, for a short time, the section word "neustonic" was modified to " Neuston|neustonic". By clicking to the Neuston article, only after studying the edit history and finding the root word, I learned what neustonic means. But this would not help the vast majority of readers who come to Wikipedia with only a vernacular understanding of the English language, nor a user of mobile Wikipedia (en.m.wikipedia.org) on a smartphone (smallscreen) device where only section headings are shown until/unless the reader chooses to expand the section. N2e ( talk) 11:28, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
Note to Eusebeus: let's discuss the article in this Talk item, not the editor. N2e ( talk)
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has one of the highest levels known of plastic particulate suspended in the upper water column. As a result, it is one of several oceanic regions where researchers have studied the effects and impact of plastic photodegradation in the neustonic layer of water. [3]
Look like scientist have now found one in the North Atlantic, news source Gnan garra 04:19, 26 February 2010 (UTC)
mindfully
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).{{
cite journal}}
: More than one of |periodical=
and |journal=
specified (
help); line feed character in |periodical=
at position 11 (
help); line feed character in |title=
at position 14 (
help)