Tracking Debris from the Tohoku Tsunami 

The Japanese government estimated that 5 million tons of debris was swept up by the monstrous tsunami of March 2011.

The map above shows the output of the Surface Currents from Diagnostic (SCUD) model, an attempt to simulate where and how that debris would disperse. Orange and red shaded areas represent parcels of water with a high probably of containing floating debris. The deeper the red color, the higher the likely concentration. The debris field stretches roughly 5,000 kilometers by 2,000 kilometers across the North Pacific. […]

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