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marine debris

Crew on the R/V Ocean Starr pulling a discarded net from the Pacific Ocean
Posted inNews

Pacific’s Garbage Hot Spot Holds More Plastic Debris Than Was Thought

by Randy Showstack 22 March 201810 April 2023

A nonprofit that helped to collect data for the research plans to use the study’s findings to help guide it in an upcoming campaign to remove buoyant plastic trash from ocean gyres.

Posted inEditors' Vox

Spills, Sediment, and Shoreline Contamination

by T. P. Clement 8 January 201818 May 2022

A recent paper in Reviews of Geophysics describes the formation and behavior of oil-sediment residues in marine and coastal environments following an oil spill.

A new modeling study finds that dispersants used at the Deepwater Horizon site may have
Posted inNews

Deepwater Horizon Dispersant Cleared the Air, New Model Shows

by R. Kaufman 14 September 201718 May 2022

A simulation of oil and gas leakage during the Deepwater Horizon disaster finds that the main chemical dispersant used improved air quality for emergency responders.

The South Atlantic’s Ascension Island is remote, but studies show that seaborne pollution can still reach it.
Posted inResearch Spotlights

Ocean Currents Push Mainland Pollution to Remote Islands

by Jenny Lunn 8 June 201725 May 2022

Marine protected areas, set up to conserve marine ecosystems and species, accumulate pollutants swept in from mainland shores by ocean currents.

Plastic pollution covering East Beach, Henderson Island.
Posted inNews

Plastic Waste Knows No Bounds

JoAnna Wendel, freelance science writer and illustrator by JoAnna Wendel 22 May 201719 April 2023

Despite the vastness of Earth’s oceans, human plastic pollution overwhelms even remote corners.

Plastic fragments mingle with sponges.
Posted inNews

Mounting Litter Spotted on Arctic Seafloor

Katherine Kornei, Science Writer by Katherine Kornei 16 February 201723 March 2023

At one location near Greenland, the density of undersea trash leaped by a factor of 23 in a decade.

Oil spills can have bigger impacts on coastal wetlands than hurricanes.
Posted inResearch Spotlights

Oil Residues Accelerate Coastal Wetland Losses

Elizabeth Thompson by E. Jacobsen 28 December 201618 May 2022

Coastal wetland loss after an oil spill can be more extensive than after a hurricane.

A surfer shares his wave with a flurry of marine debris fragments.
Posted inScience Updates

Developing a Remote Sensing System to Track Marine Debris

by N. Maximenko, Y. Chao and D. Moller 25 October 20163 February 2023

Workshop on Mission Concepts for Marine Debris Sensing; Honolulu, Hawaii, 19–21 January 2016

Tobago 2015 Sargassum beaching
Posted inFeatures

Sargassum Watch Warns of Incoming Seaweed

by C. Hu, B. Murch, B. B. Barnes, M. Wang, J.-P. Maréchal, J. Franks, D. Johnson, B. Lapointe, D. S. Goodwin, J. M. Schell and A. N. S. Siuda 2 September 20164 January 2024

The Sargassum Watch System processes satellite data and feeds results to a Web portal, giving decision makers timely information on seaweed location and warnings for potential beaching events.

Posted inNews

Deepwater Horizon Oil Lingered and Sank, Stuck to "Marine Snow"

Amy Coombs by A. Coombs 3 June 201618 May 2022

A new study may explain how supposedly buoyant oil from the huge 2010 oil spill coated corals and other organisms on the ocean floor.

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Over a dark blue-green square appear the words Special Report: The State of the Science 1 Year On.

Features from AGU Publications

Research Spotlights

How Internal Waves Transport Energy Thousands of Miles Across the Ocean

26 March 202626 March 2026
Editors' Highlights

What’s Under the Water Matters

27 March 202626 March 2026
Editors' Vox

The Future of Earth’s Future

24 March 202624 March 2026
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