Experimental modeling of the shifting of floating objects in “garbage islands”

We studied the movements of polypropylene markers in a composite vortex as a model for the transport of garbage in the ocean in the laboratory setting. We showed that when in motion a marker rotates around the center, as well as around its own axis. We determined the dependence of the angular velocities of marker rotation on the distance to the center of a vortex, whose values depend on the size of the markers at fixed permanent conditions. We found the separatrix that divides the areas of the initial positions, from which the marker is displaced upon further movement to the center of the vortex or to the container walls.