In Chaos, researchers establish a theory for how microplastic particles may accumulate in a circular current. They began by modeling how fluid moves in a rotating cylinder and accounted for the complication of microplastics having inertia and disrupting the fluid around them, which causes them to slowly stray from the fluid’s usual path. Exploiting the mathematics behind this allowed them to develop a theory for how and where particles accumulate, and applying the theory to ocean flows can help determine subsurface areas with high concentrations of microplastics.

For roughly two billion years of Earth’s early history, the atmosphere contained no oxygen, the essential ingredient required for complex life. Oxygen began building up during the period known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), but when and how it first entered the oceans has remained uncertain.

A new study published in Nature Communications shows that oxygen was absorbed from the atmosphere into the shallow oceans within just a few million years—a geological blink of an eye. Led by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the work provides new insight into one of the most important environmental shifts in Earth’s history.