title: Plastic accumulation in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre.
abstract: Plastic marine pollution is a major environmental concern, yet a quantitative description of the scope of this problem in the open ocean is lacking. Here, we present a time series of plastic content at the surface of the western North Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea from 1986 to 2008. More than 60% of 6136 surface plankton net tows collected buoyant plastic pieces, typically millimeters in size. The highest concentration of plastic debris was observed in subtropical latitudes and associated with the observed large-scale convergence in surface currents predicted by Ekman dynamics. Despite a rapid increase in plastic production and disposal during this time period, no trend in plastic concentration was observed in the region of highest accumulation.
authors: Sea Education Association, Post Office Box 6, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. klavender@sea.edu
authors: Kara Lavender
authors: KL
authors: Law
authors: Skye
authors: S
authors: Morét-Ferguson
authors: Nikolai A
authors: NA
authors: Maximenko
authors: Giora
authors: G
authors: Proskurowski
authors: Emily E
authors: EE
authors: Peacock
authors: Jan
authors: J
authors: Hafner
authors: Christopher M
authors: CM
authors: Reddy