GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH (GPGP)

About:

• GPGP is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world’s oceans.
  
  
• It was first discovered in 1997.
  
  
• It is also called as the Pacific Trash Vortex.
  
  
• Location: It is located halfway between Hawaii and California.
  
  
• Size and Total mass:
  • The GPGP covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, an area three times the size of France.
    
    
  • The mass of the plastic in the GPGP was estimated to be approximately 80,000 tonnes.
    
    
  
  
  
• Formation:
  • It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each.
    
    
  • When garbage is carried into the center of an ocean gyre, there are no more outside forces acting on the garbage to move it any further. The result is that garbage will often collect at the center of ocean gyres and stay there for many years.
    
    
  • Due to this, the North Pacific Ocean, the North Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean all have substantial patches of garbage.