gyre

A large-scale circular current in an ocean basin, driven by wind, the Coriolis effect, and the arrangement of continents. There are five major oceanic gyres — the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean — each rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern. The center of a gyre is calm and nutrient-poor, a biological desert. The North Pacific Gyre traps floating debris in what has become known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The word also means any circular or spiral motion.