Le site de vulgarisation scientifique de l’Université de Liège. ULg, Université de Liège
Seventh continent

This is the name given to a gyre of marine waste particles in the North Pacific, discovered in 1997 by the oceanographer Charles Moore. This “continent” is translucent and is situated under the water’s surface. It is therefore not detectable by satellite images. An international study published in the journal PLOS ONE estimates that, in total, there are around 269,000 tonnes of floating plastic. This enormous garbage patch, (the size of Texas) rotates and is constantly fed by new waste particles.

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