FN Archimer Export Format PT J TI Observations of Near-Surface Current Shear Help Describe Oceanic Oil and Plastic Transport BT AF LAXAGUE, Nathan J. M. OZGOKMEN, Tamay M. HAUS, Brian K. NOVELLI, Guillaume SHCHERBINA, Andrey SUTHERLAND, Peter GUIGAND, Cedric M. LUND, Bjorn MEHTA, Sanchit ALDAY, Matias MOLEMAKER, Jeroen AS 1:1;2:1;3:1;4:1;5:2;6:3;7:1;8:1;9:1;10:5;11:4; FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;5:;6:PDG-ODE-LOPS-SIAM;7:;8:;9:;10:;11:; C1 Univ Miami, Rosenstiel Sch Marine & Atmospher Sci, Dept Ocean Sci, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149 USA. Univ Washington, Appl Phys Lab, Seattle, WA USA. Inst Francais Rech Exploitat Mer, Lab Oceanog Phys & Spatiale, Plouzane, France. Univ Calif Los Angeles, Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Los Angeles, CA USA. Inst Francais Rech Exploitat Mer, Lab Oceanog Phys & Spatiale, Plouzane, France. C2 UNIV MIAMI, USA UNIV WASHINGTON, USA IFREMER, FRANCE UNIV CALIF LOS ANGELES, USA UBO, FRANCE SI BREST SE PDG-ODE-LOPS-SIAM UM LOPS IN WOS Ifremer jusqu'en 2018 copubli-france copubli-univ-france copubli-int-hors-europe IF 4.578 TC 73 UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00425/53614/54443.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00425/53614/54444.pdf LA English DT Article DE ;ocean current shear;near-surface currents;marine plastics;spilled oil;Lagrangian transport AB Plastics and spilled oil pose a critical threat to marine life and human health. As a result of wind forcing and wave motions, theoretical and laboratory studies predict very strong velocity variation with depth over the upper few centimeters of the water column, an observational blind spot in the real ocean. Here we present the first-ever ocean measurements of the current vector profile defined to within 1 cm of the free surface. In our illustrative example, the current magnitude averaged over the upper 1 cm of the ocean is shown to be nearly four times the average over the upper 10 m, even for mild forcing. Our findings indicate that this shear will rapidly separate pieces of marine debris which vary in size or buoyancy, making consideration of these dynamics essential to an improved understanding of the pathways along which marine plastics and oil are transported. PY 2018 PD JAN SO Geophysical Research Letters SN 0094-8276 PU Amer Geophysical Union VL 45 IS 1 UT 000423431800028 BP 245 EP 249 DI 10.1002/2017GL075891 ID 53614 ER EF