<P> The Great Pacific garbage patch, also described as the Pacific trash vortex, is a gyre of marine debris particles in the central North Pacific Ocean discovered between 1985 and 1988 . It is located roughly between 135 ° W to 155 ° W and 35 ° N to 42 ° N. The collection of plastic, floating trash halfway between Hawaii and California extends over an indeterminate area of widely varying range depending on the degree of plastic concentration used to define the affected area . </P> <P> The patch is characterized by exceptionally high relative pelagic concentrations of plastic, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre . Its low density (4 particles per cubic meter) prevents detection by satellite imagery, or even by casual boaters or divers in the area . It consists primarily of an increase in suspended, often microscopic, particles in the upper water column . </P>

When did the pacific ocean garbage patch start