PO11A:
Detection, Analysis, and Modeling of the Distribution and Transport of Oceanic Debris I


Session ID#: 37412

Session Description:
An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic waste generated on land entered the oceans in 2010, a figure that does not include debris from natural disasters, lost shipping cargo, or derelict fishing gear. Floating debris is a hazard to navigation and poses risks to marine animals and the marine ecosystem. Although contamination by man-made debris is increasingly reported in marine habitats around the world, major gaps remain in understanding the sources, distribution and transport of oceanic debris.

In this session we invite presentations on topics that inform understanding of the distribution and dispersion of oceanic debris of all materials and sizes, including:

  • ocean and shelf-sea dynamics at a variety of scales that distribute debris horizontally or vertically;
  • the dynamics of buoyant objects in turbulent ocean flow;
  • data on characteristics of debris that affect its transport (e.g., size, shape, windage, etc.);
  • advances in modeling of debris transport, from coastal regions to the open ocean; and
  • assessments of remote sensing tools for detection of floating debris.
Primary Chair:  Kara L Lavender Law, Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, MA, United States
Co-chairs:  Stefano Aliani, Institute of Marine Sciences CNR, La Spezia, Italy, Erik van Sebille, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands and Nikolai A Maximenko, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
Moderators:  Erik van Sebille, Imperial College London, Grantham Institute, London, SW7, United Kingdom, Stefano Aliani, Institute of Marine Sciences CNR, La Spezia, Italy and Nikolai A Maximenko, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Kara L Lavender Law, Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, MA, United States
Index Terms:

4251 Marine pollution [OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL]
4255 Numerical modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL]
4275 Remote sensing and electromagnetic processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL]
4572 Upper ocean and mixed layer processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
Cross-Topics:
  • CD - Coastal Dynamics
  • IS - Ocean Observatories, Instrumentation and Sensing Technologies
  • OM - Ocean Modeling

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Multi-Decadal Changes in Plastic Particle Deposition in the Santa Barbara Basin (303827)
Jennifer Anne Brandon, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, United States, William Jones, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, CA, United States and Mark D Ohman, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
Neuston Plastic Increases 60-fold over 15 years in the North Pacific Central Gyre’s Eastern Garbage Patch. (323619)
Charles Moore, Algalita Marine Research and Education, Long Beach, CA, United States, Gwen Lattin, Algalita Marine Research and Education, Research, Long Beach, CA, United States, Nikolai A Maximenko, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States, Jan Hafner, IPRC/SOEST U. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, United States and Stephen Weisberg, SCCWRP, Costa Mesa, CA, United States
Revisiting a Long-Term Time Series of Floating Plastics in the western North Atlantic Ocean (319001)
Kara L Lavender Law1, Chris Wilcox2 and Britta Denise Hardesty2, (1)Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, MA, United States, (2)CSIRO, Oceans and Atmosphere Business Unit, Hobart, Australia
A Framework for Analyzing the Trajectories of Ocean Surface Debris: Its Application to Parts Confirmed to Be from MH370 (315913)
Joaquin A Trinanes1,2, Maria Josefina Olascoaga3, Gustavo Jorge Goni1, Nikolai A Maximenko4, David Anthony Griffin5 and Jan Hafner6, (1)NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL, United States, (2)Instituto de Investigacions Tecnoloxicas, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, (3)RSMAS - UMiami, Department of Ocean Sciences, Miami, FL, United States, (4)University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States, (5)CSIRO, Ocean and Atmosphere, Hobart, Australia, (6)IPRC/SOEST U. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, United States
Exploring the Disappearing Ocean Micro Plastic Mystery: New Insights from Dissolved Organic Carbon photo production (323860)
Lixin Zhu1, Shiye Zhao1, Thais Bittar2, Aron Stubbins3 and Daoji Li1, (1)East China Normal University, State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Shanghai, China, (2)Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, Marine Sciences Department, Savannah, GA, United States, (3)Northeastern University, Marine and Environmental Science; Chemistry and Chemical Biology; Civil and Environmental Engineering, Boston, MA, United States
Shape effects on transport of microplastics in wavy flows (302818)
Michelle H DiBenedetto1, Nicholas T Ouellette1 and Jeffrey R Koseff2, (1)Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, (2)Stanford University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford, CA, United States
Dispersion, Exposure, and Encounter of Microplastic Marine Debris and Marine Organisms in the Ocean Surface Boundary Layer (317612)
Katie Gamble, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States, Tobias Kukulka, University of Delaware, School of Marine Science and Policy, Newark, DE, United States and Jonathan Cohen, University of Delaware, Lewes, DE, United States

See more of: Physical Oceanography: Other