Which process dominates after floating buoyant plastic debris converges inside an ocean gyre?

💡 Explanation

When plastic debris accumulates in an ocean gyre center, photodegradation occurs because UV radiation breaks down plastic polymers, embrittling the plastics. Therefore photochemical degradation results, rather than sinking, biodegradation, or subduction, which require different accumulation mechanisms and environmental conditions such as high pressure.

• Which effect accelerates longshore drift when approaching headlands?
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• Which mechanism influences stream meandering in the mid-latitudes due to Earth's rotation?
• Which process causes coarser sediment fractions to deposit proximally within an alluvial fan?
• Which mechanism amplifies the Coriolis effect experienced by air masses moving toward high-latitude regions?
• Which surface feature is accelerated meltwater flow primarily responsible for where active solifluction lobes are present?