gyres

The occurrence and intensity of overturning is sensitive to the density of water at the surface in these convective gyres, which is in turn sensitive to the outflow of low-salinity water from the Arctic.

Influence of the Arctic on global climate 2009

Plastic accumulated in regions called gyres, where currents circle and push water toward the center, trapping the floating bits.

Reuters: Top News 2010

These massive swirling structures - the largest are known as gyres - can be thousands of kilometres across and can extend down as deep as 500 metres or more, a research team led by a UNSW mathematician, Dr Gary Froyland, has shown in the latest study published in

Signs of the Times 2008

These massive swirling structures - the largest are known as gyres - can be thousands of kilometres across and can extend down as deep as 500 metres or more, a research team led by a UNSW mathematician, Dr Gary Froyland, has shown.

dailyindia.com News Feed 2008

Massive Gyres Offer New Insights into the Ocean's Influence on Marine Life & World's Climate New studies of the Southern Ocean are revealing previously unknown features of giant spinning eddies massive swirling structures - the largest are known as gyres - can be thousands of kilometers across and can extend down as deep as 500 meters or more, have a profound influence on marine life and on the world's climate.

The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel 2008

Below the equator the ocean boasts three other gyres and it's been the mission of the non-profit, 5 Gyres.org to document them all.

Stiv J. Wilson: Never Before Studied Gyre: Researchers Find Plastic in the South Pacific Too Stiv J. Wilson 2011

Preliminary reports suggest the surface samples are less dense than comparable samples from other gyres, but based on electronic drift buoy modeling of where the densest accumulation zone should be, it looks to be one of the tightest gyres in the world.

Stiv J. Wilson: Never Before Studied Gyre: Researchers Find Plastic in the South Pacific Too Stiv J. Wilson 2011

Plastic isn't simply relegated to the gyres though.

Stiv J. Wilson: Never Before Studied Gyre: Researchers Find Plastic in the South Pacific Too Stiv J. Wilson 2011

Finally, Ebbesmeyer reveals the rhythmic and harmonic order in the vast oceanic currents called gyres "the heartbeat of the world" and the threats that global warming and disintegrating plastic waste pose to the seas ... and to us.

Flotsametrics and the Floating World by Curtis Ebbesmeyer: Book summary 2010

Plastic is everywhere in the ocean, and rarely very- perhaps less than 1% of the time does a surface sample come up totally clean even outside the conjectured borders of the gyres.

Stiv J. Wilson: Never Before Studied Gyre: Researchers Find Plastic in the South Pacific Too Stiv J. Wilson 2011