What kinds of factors could hinder the forward progress of a message in a bottle in an ocean current? what factors could aid the movement? in the lesson, you learned about a debris convergence zone, or “garbage patch,” that can form in the center of the pacific ocean. how is the formation of this patch related to ocean currents? where else in the world’s oceans are garbage patches likely to form? hundreds of millions of years ago, all the continents on earth were connected to form a giant “supercontinent” called pangaea. how might ocean currents have differed during the time of pangaea compared to today? explain your answer.

1. A message in a bottle released in the ocean waters is anything but sure method of delivering a message. While there's always the chance that the message in a bottle will reach someone, the chances are significantly bigger that it actually won't. There's lot of factors that can hinder the progress of the message in a bottle in the oceans, such as the ocean currents, garbage patches, small islands, large rocks sticking out, and even the sea traffic. The bottle may get trapped in an endless circular movement because of the ocean currents, thus never reaching the shore. It may also get caught in a garbage patch, which will mean that it is almost impossible for anyone to find it. The small uninhabited islands and large rocks sticking out may stand on its way, thus stop where there's no people. or a boat or ship can simply hit it and break the bottle, putting end to its travel.

2. The movement of a message in a bottle can be aided, not just hindered by some factors. The most important factor in here would be the ocean currents. While it is a fifty-fifty chance, to either get into an endless circle, or get to the shore, the ocean currents still can have a positive impact. The ocean currents tend to move in the open ocean waters, but also have parts of their tracks where they move along the coastlines. If the message int he bottle manages to pass by any obstacles in the open ocean waters while dragged by the ocean current, then it will come in a situation to be very close to a certain coastline. As there is lot of traffic, people that swim and dive, guarding services etc., the message in the bottle has solid chances that someone will spot it even if it doesn't wash off on the shore. If it does wash off on the shore, for which the chances are high considering that the waves will move it in that direction, then it is almost certain that someone will find it, open it, and the message will be read.

3. The biggest garbage patch in the world is formed in the Pacific Ocean, in its central part. The garbage patch has been formed because of the millions of tons of garbage that the humans are throwing away and it ends up into the ocean waters. The garbage patch is so big that it is actually larger than most of the countries in the world, containing all sorts of waste, with the plastic and electric devices being the dominant ones. The reason why this garbage patch has been formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is because of the ocean currents and their movements. The ocean currents of the Pacific Ocean move in a circular manner, with only parts of them reaching the coastlines, while they are the strongest in the inner parts of the circle they make. Because those parts of the ocean currents are stronger, they manage to influence the movement of the garbage patch, thus they drag it along with them. Because the garbage patch can not get free of them, it is constantly moving in a very large circle along with the ocean currents, thus it circles around the central part of the South Pacific.

4. Unfortunately, the human activities has resulted in turning the world's oceans into one enormous ''garbage can''. That has resulted in the formation of garbage patches, some large as a large country, while some as very big islands, floating on top of the ocean waters. Apart from the best known garbage patch, the Pacific garbage patch, there are numerous other places in the world where garbage patches are formed, or can be formed. The large concentration of garbage on one place is dictated by the ocean currents, or rather by their circular movement in the central parts of the oceans. This gives the places like the central parts of the North Atlantic and South Atlantic as very likely places for large garbage patches to develop. Also, the southern part of the Indian Ocean is a very likely candidate,as well as several other places in the Pacific Ocean where the ocean currents tend to have circular movement in its central parts.