Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN PREVIEW WEEK:

29 August-2 September 2005

Ocean in the News:

(Thurs.)Extent of disaster along Gulf coast becoming known -- Katrina's devastation of the Gulf of Mexico coast from Louisiana to Alabama is arguably the U.S.' worst natural disaster. [CNN]
Views of Katrina's damage along Gulf coast shown:
- NASA satellite shows extent of flooded area [NASA Looks at Earth]
- NOAA strives to aid recovery [NOAA News]
- NOAA aerial survey views along coast [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Katrina wreaks havoc on Gulf coast -- At least 68 have died in the storm surge flooding and winds of Hurricane Katrina as the Category 4 storm made landfall east of New Orleans Monday morning. New Orleans had 20 feet of water in spots while Biloxi, Mississippi took much of the brunt of the damage. [CNN]
(Tues.) Coral reefs escape tsunami damage -- A Royal Geographic Society report indicates 90% of the Indian Ocean's coral reefs escaped severe damage from the tsunami. [BBC News]
(Tues.) The current did it -- British Antarctic Survey scientists say the rapid breakaway of South America from Antarctica 30-50 million years ago and the subsequent development of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current produced the cold climate of the continent. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) NCAR study points to CO₂ as culprit -- The National Center for Atmospheric Research's global climate model suggests that the death of 95% of all lifeforms during the Permian extinction 250 million years ago was due to heightened levels of CO₂ released by volcanic activity. [BBC News]
A potentially deadly historic hurricane takes aim on the Big Easy -- Hurricane Katrina, with maximum sustained near surface winds of nearly 175 mph, was moving slowly to the north-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico toward the central Gulf Coast near New Orleans, LA on Sunday. Katrina, the eleventh named tropical low-pressure system (with maximum sustained winds of 39 mph or higher), became a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Mandatory evacuation was ordered for many communities, including New Orleans, a major metropolitan area that lies approximately six feet below sea level in a region between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. [CNN] Earlier, Hurricane Katrina had traveled across Florida, where it was responsible for four fatalities.[USA Today] In preparation for the second landfall of Hurricane Katrina, the Federal governmental agencies are ready to provide disaster assistance. [USA Today]
Powerful typhoon hits Japan -- Typhoon Mawar hit the Tokyo area of Japan last Friday with heavy rain and strong winds, resulting in the disruption of air and rail traffic to Tokyo and other cities in Japan. This typhoon, which is the equivalent to a hurricane in the western North Pacific, had weakened and had been downgraded to a tropical storm before making a swipe at the Japanese archipelago. At least one fatality was attributed to this typhoon. [CNN]
An USS Monitor legend debunked -- Following the documentation and excavating of the two 11-inch Dahlgren cannons retrieved from the submerged USS Monitor's gun turret, NOAA scientists and conservators from The Mariners' Museum finally debunked a popular legend that has persisted for more than 140 years concerning a black cat being placed in one of the cannon barrels before the ironclad sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras in 1862 . [NOAA News]
New global initiative launched to save falling fish stocks -- At a recent meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, representatives from the World Bank, the UN Food and Agriculture and other organizations agreed to form ProFish, an oversight body that would help poor countries manage dwindling fish stores by reducing the effects of illegal fishing and environmental degradation. [ENN]
An ice-free summertime Arctic Ocean is foreseen -- A team of researchers from several institutions including the University of Arizona report that if current observed warming trends continue across the Arctic basin, then the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during the summer season within the next 100 years. [EurekAlert!]
Plumbing of mid-ocean ridges studied -- A team of scientists from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have been studying a set of high quality images obtained from the oceanic crust off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. These scientists report that these images suggest that the lower oceanic crust was generated by multiple magma sources, which formed different magma pools or lenses. [EurekAlert!] [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
Addressing coral reef decline -- A team of scientists at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab report that the decline in the coral reefs during the last 25 years appears to be primarily the result of disease and high sea temperature, in addition to the effects of pollution and overfishing. [EurekAlert!]
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods, and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Touring the DataStreme Ocean website

Welcome to DataStreme Ocean! You are embarking on a study of the world ocean and the role of the ocean in the Earth system. This unique teacher enhancement course focuses on the flow and transformations of energy and water into and out of the ocean, the internal properties and circulation of the ocean, interactions between the ocean and the other components of the Earth system, and the human/societal impacts on and responses to those interactions. Throughout this learning experience, you will be using the DataStreme Ocean website to access and interpret a variety of environmental information, including recent observational data. The objective of this initial Concept of the Week is to explore features of the DS Ocean website.

On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Ocean News that includes Ocean in the News (a summary listing of recent events related to the ocean), Concept of the Week (an in-depth analysis of some topic related to the ocean in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a list of past events such as tsunamis or specific advances in the understanding of oceanography). When appropriate, Supplemental Information will be provided on some topic related to the principal theme of the week.

You will use the DS Ocean website to access and download the second part of weekly Investigations A & B (plus supporting images) that begin in your DataStreme Ocean Investigations Manual. These materials should be available by noon (Eastern Time) on Tuesday and Thursday. Click the appropriate links to download and print these electronic components of the investigations as well as your Chapter Progress and Investigations Response forms.

The body of the DS Ocean website provides links to the Earth System, information on Physical & Chemical, Geological, and Biological aspects of the ocean, Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, the Great Lakes, and extras--a glossary of terms, maps, educational links, and DataStreme Ocean information. Following each section is a link to other sites that examine the various subsystems of the Earth system. Let's take a quick tour to become more familiar with the DS Ocean website.

Under Physical & Chemical, click on Sea Surface Temperatures. This image uses a color scale to depict the global pattern of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) (in degrees Celsius) averaged over a recent 7-day period and based on measurements by infrared sensors onboard Earth-orbiting satellites. (Depending on your browser, you may have to place your mouse cursor on the slide bar to the right and scroll down to view the entire image.) Compare SSTs in the Northern Hemisphere with those in the Southern Hemisphere. Return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Geological, click on Current Earthquake Activity. (Note: This may load slowly.) The USGS Current World Seismicity page provides a global map of the locations of seismic (earthquake) events color-coded for the last week or 30 days. The diameters of the circles represent the magnitude of the most recent earthquakes. Note how earthquakes are concentrated along the margin of the Pacific Ocean. Details of recent earthquakes can be found by clicking on their map circles and are given in Current Earthquakes for the U.S. and World. Return to the DS Ocean website.

The ocean is home to a wide variety of habitats and organisms. Under Biological, click on Ocean "Color" (Productivity). This is a satellite-derived (SeaWiFS) color-coded map of biological productivity in the surface waters of the world ocean averaged for the year 2004 to date. Orange and red indicates the highest productivity and dark blue and violet indicate the lowest productivity. Note the vast areas of relatively low productivity over the central regions of the subtropical ocean basins. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, click on TRMM Tropical Rainfall. The TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) page includes color-coded maps of the Monthly Mean Rainrate (in mm per day) across the tropics. Click on "July" for example. Changes in rainfall are linked to large-scale shifts in the atmosphere/ocean circulation in the tropics. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Take a few minutes when you have time to browse the other data and information sources available via the DS Ocean website. You should "bookmark" ("favorites") this page on your computer. Return frequently to learn more about the many resources on the ocean in the Earth system. Bon voyage!

Concept of the Week: Questions

The latest global sea surface temperature map indicates that SSTs are generally higher over the [(western)(eastern)] tropical Pacific Ocean.
The USGS map of Current Earthquake Activity indicates that earthquakes appear to be more common along the [(east)(west)] coast of North America.

Historical Events

29 August 1583...The Delight was wrecked on Sable Island, Nova Scotia during a heavy gale, blinding rain and thick fog. This was Canada's first recorded marine disaster, taking 85 lives. (The Weather Doctor)
29 August 1988...The remnants of Tropical Storm Chris drenched eastern Pennsylvania with up to five and a half inches of rain, and produced high winds that gusted to 90 mph, severely damaging a hundred boats in Anne Arundel County, MD. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
30 August 1913...The US Navy tested the Sperry gyroscopic stabilizer (automatic pilot). (Naval Historical Center)
31 August 1842...The U.S. Naval Observatory was authorized by an act of Congress. (Today in Science History)
1 September 1789...An act of Congress provided for the registering and clearing of vessels and the regulation of the coastwise trade, thus laying the foundation of American navigation laws which, until 1912, embodied the marine policy of the United States. (US Coast Guard Historian's Office)
1 September 1858...The first transatlantic cable failed after less than one month of service. (Today in Science History)
1-2 September 1935...Perhaps the most intense hurricane ever to hit the U.S. struck the Florida Keys with sustained winds of over 155 mph with gusts exceeding 200 mph. On the 1^st, the "Labor Day Hurricane" formed rapidly over the Bahama Islands and intensified into a Category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir Simpson Scale) with sustained winds of over 155 mph and gusts exceeding 200 mph. On the next day, this hurricane generated a 15-foot tide and waves 30-ft high, as it became the first known Category 5 hurricane to hit the U.S. Mainland. More than 400 persons perished in the storm on that Labor Day, including many World War I veterans building a bridge from the Keys to the mainland. The barometric pressure at Matecumbe Bay, FL hit a record low for the U.S. at 26.35 inches of mercury (or 892 millibars). (David Ludlum) (The Weather Doctor)
1 September 1974...Navy Lieutenant Judy Neuffer became the first woman to pilot a plane through the eye of a hurricane. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
1 September 1985...A joint French-American expedition headed by the American explorer, Robert D. Ballard, located the wreck of the sunken liner RMS Titanic on the floor of the North Atlantic using an experimental and unmanned submersible craft Argo. The wreckage of the Titanic, which sank in April 1912 on its maiden voyage after colliding with an iceberg, was found at a depth of about 13,000 feet and approximately 400 miles west of Newfoundland. (The History Channel)
2 September 1752...The British Empire adopted the Gregorian Calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of western Europe (primarily 1582). To correct the imprecise leap year correction in the Julian Calendar, 11 days were dropped making the following day 14 September. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science)
3 September 1821...A hurricane made landfall at Long Island, near the current J.F. Kennedy Airport and then moved through western Connecticut. The hurricane produced a record high tide at New York City. (David Ludlum)
4 September 1954...Icebreakers, USS Burton Island (AGB-1) and USCG Northwind, completed first transit of the Northwest Passage through McClure Strait. (Naval Historical Center)
4-6 September 1970...Moisture from Pacific Tropical Storm Norma led to heavy rain and severe flooding over a three-day span. Unprecedented rains caused rivers in central Arizona to rise five to ten feet per hour, sweeping cars and buildings as far as 30 to 40 mi downstream, leading to the greatest natural disaster of record for Arizona. Flooding claimed the lives of 23 persons, mainly campers, and caused millions of dollars in property damage. Water crested 36 feet above normal near Sunflower. Workman's Creek was deluged with 11.40 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a 24-hour precipitation record for the Grand Canyon State. An estimated six inches of rain fell at Bug Point, UT, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Beehive State. (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)