Japan’s Tsunami Debris Expected on U.S. Shores in 3 Years


The following is a press release from the International Pacific Research Center of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. The complete April 5 article, titled “Where Will the Debris from Japan’s Tsunami Drift in the Ocean?” can be found here.

The powerful tsunami triggered by the 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake destroyed coastal towns near Sendai in Japan, washing such things as houses and cars into the ocean. Projections of where this debris might head have been made by Nikolai Maximenko and Jan Hafner at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Maximenko has developed a model based on the behavior of drifting buoys deployed over years in the ocean for scientific purposes. What this model predicts about the tsunami debris [is that the] debris first spreads out eastward from the Japan Coast in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In a year, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument will see pieces washing up on its shores; in two years, the remaining Hawaiian islands will see some effects; in three years, the plume will reach the US West Coast, dumping debris on Californian beaches and the beaches of British Columbia, Alaska, and Baja California. The debris will then drift into the famous North Pacific Garbage Patch, where it will wander around and break into smaller and smaller pieces. In five years, Hawaii shores can expect to see another barrage of debris that is stronger and longer-lasting than the first one. Much of the debris leaving the North Pacific Garbage Patch ends up on Hawaii’s reefs and beaches.

These model projections will help to guide clean-up and tracking operations. Tracking will be important in determining what happens to different materials in the tsunami debris, for example, how the composition of the debris plume changes with time, and how the winds and currents separate objects drifting at different speeds.

Even before the tsunami, the World Ocean was a dump for rubbish flowing in from rivers, washed off beaches, and jettisoned from oil and gas platforms and from fishing, tourist, and merchant vessels. Marine debris has become a serious problem for marine ecosystems, fisheries, and shipping. The presentations given at the recent week-long 5th International Marine Debris Conference in Hawaii, at which Maximenko had organized a day-long workshop, are a testimony to the magnitude of the ocean debris problem. The massive, concentrated debris launched by the devastating tsunami is now magnifying the hazards.

Maximenko’s long-standing work on ocean currents and transports predicted that there are five major regions in the World Ocean where debris collects if it is not washed up on shores or sinks to the ocean bottom, deteriorates, or is ingested by marine organisms. These regions turn out to be “garbage patches.” The North Pacific Garbage Patch has become famous, the North Atlantic Patch was fixed some years ago, and the South Atlantic, South Indian Ocean, and South Pacific patches have just been found, guided by the map of his model that shows where floating marine debris should collect.

Editor’s note: Professor Tommy Dickey has an excellent, introductory-level PowerPoint presentation on tsunamis in general and the recent Japanese and Sumatra tsunamis in particular on his website (click on tsunamis in the left column). He also has one on oil spills there, including info on historical spills and the recent BP spill, as well as others of interest.

Image 1 for article titled "Japan’s Tsunami Debris Expected on U.S. Shores in 3 Years"
Debris from Japanese tsunami, floating over the Pacific (Photo: U.S. Navy). The tsunami debris is insignificant compared to the massive amount of trash dumped into the oceans each day

Image 2 for article titled "Japan’s Tsunami Debris Expected on U.S. Shores in 3 Years"
Two days after the tsunami, a curtain of debris floats on the ocean. The U.S. Navy was conducting helicopter-based search and rescue missions near the coastal waters of Sendai. The black dots in the photo are tires. Credit: U.S. Navy/Specialist 3rd Class Dylan McCord

Image 3 for article titled "Japan’s Tsunami Debris Expected on U.S. Shores in 3 Years"
Portions of houses and an overturned boat afloat in the Pacific. (Photo: Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd/U.S. Navy)

Image 4 for article titled "Japan’s Tsunami Debris Expected on U.S. Shores in 3 Years"
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N. The Garbage Patch is located within the North Pacific Gyre, one of the five major oceanic gyres (Wikipedia: Great Pacific Garbage Patch)

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