Weekly Ocean News

WEEK TWO: 13-17 September 2010

Item of Interest --

• Follow a research cruise -- Dr. Jim Brey, Director the American Meteorological Society's Education Program, is currently participating on a 12-day research cruise called "School of Rock 2010" on the waters of the eastern North Pacific off the coast of British Columbia's Vancouver Island on the research vessel JOIDES Resolution. This vessel is operated by the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES) will be conducting drilling operations along the Cascadia fault. He will be posting a blog describing his onboard experiences. [JOIDES Resolution website]

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics --
The weather across the tropical North Atlantic and the North Pacific basins remained active last week with several tropical cyclones (low pressure systems that form over tropical waters):
• In the North Atlantic basin, remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston traveled westward across the waters of the tropical North Atlantic and the Caribbean. Although downgraded to a tropical depression near the end of the previous week, the remnant low associated with this minimal tropical storm brought clouds, rain and gusty winds to the Caribbean islands, including the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. This low finally dissipated early last week south of Hispaniola. For additional information and satellite imagery on Gaston, refer to the NASA Hurricane Page.
  The eighth named tropical cyclone of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Hermine, formed at the start of last week over the waters of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, offshore of the southeastern Mexican coastline. This tropical storm traveled to the north-northwest offshore of the Mexican coast for slightly more than 24 hours before making landfall along the northeastern Mexican coast 30 miles south of Brownsville, TX late Monday (Labor Day). Even after making landfall, Hermine remained a tropical storm for nearly an additional 24 hours while it traveled northward across Texas and into Oklahoma., where it was downgraded into a tropical depression that finally dissipated by midweek. Additional imagery and information on Tropical Storm Hermine can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
  The next named tropical cyclone, Tropical Storm Igor, formed by midweek over the waters of the eastern tropical Atlantic near the Cape Verde Islands. This tropical storm traveled westward and weakened to a tropical depression through the latter part of last week. However, Tropical Depression Igor intensified to a tropical storm and then to a hurricane at the start of this past weekend. Hurricane Igor, the fourth hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, continued to travel westward across the Atlantic on Sunday. See NASA Hurricane Page for more information and satellite images of Igor.
  The historic or statistical annual peak in the Atlantic hurricane season occurred at the end of last week (10-12 September), as determined as the date during the entire season with most frequent number of named tropical cyclones (tropical storms and hurricanes), based upon over 100 years of record. This date corresponds closely with the time of peak sea-surface temperatures across those sections of the North Atlantic considered hurricane-breeding areas. [NWS National Hurricane Center] [Note: So far this Atlantic hurricane season, which commenced on 1 June 2010, four tropical cyclones have reached hurricane status including the currently active Hurricane Igor, five have were tropical storms, while three systems have been tropical depressions. EJH]
  On early Monday (local time), Tropical Storm Julia, the tenth named tropical cyclone of the season, formed over the waters southeast of the Cape Verde Islands.
• In the western North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Malou traveled northward across the East China Sea before turning to the northeast at the beginning of last week. This system then traveled through the Korean Strait and into the Sea of Japan before weakening early in the week. Satellite images and additional information on Malou are on the NASA Hurricane Page.
  Typhoon Meranti, the fourth typhoon (western North Pacific counterpart to a hurricane) of 2010, formed at the midpoint of last week as a tropical storm over the western North Pacific south of Taiwan. This system intensified into a typhoon as it traveled into the Taiwan Strait at the end of the week. See for the NASA Hurricane Page additional details and satellite images. Community Climate Change Adaptation Initiative is funded -- NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program announced that a $1.2 million has been awarded to the Community Climate Change Adaptation Initiative in order to assist the nation's coastal communities prepare for the impacts of climate change. Nearly 20 university based Sea Grant programs along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 7 programs along the Pacific and 7 programs along the Great Lakes will running demonstration projects. These programs are intended to help communities along the oceans and the Great Lakes develop strategies to address coastal inundation, sea-level rise, drought, more frequent and intense coastal storms, and other impacts associated with climate change. [NOAA News]
• Nation's top fishing ports are listed --
A recent NOAA Fisheries statistical report of the nation’s commercial and recreational fishing for 2009 have ranked the Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, AK and New Bedford, MA as the top ports in terms of the total amount of fish landed and economic value of the catch, respectively. [NOAA News]
• National seafood consumption suffers slight dip in 2009 --
A recently released NOAA Fisheries Service report indicates that the average American ate 15.8 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2009, which was approximately 0.2 pounds less than the 2008 per capita consumption amount. [NOAA News]
• Study indicates Gulf dead zones not anticipated following oil spill --
The federal Joint Analysis Group (JAG) consisting of scientists from NOAA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a report this past week by that showed an approximately 20 percent drop in dissolved oxygen levels from their long-term average in waters of the Gulf of Mexico where federal and independent scientists previously reported subsurface oil. This JAG report attributes the lower dissolved oxygen levels to microbes using oxygen to consume the oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. [NOAA News]
• Gulf oil remains below surface --
The director of Louisiana State University's WAVCIS (Wave-Current-Surge Information System) Program disagrees with the recent estimates that more than three-quarters of the oil that entered the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon spill has disappeared. He claims that during a recent aircraft flight over the affected area of the affected Gulf waters, subsurface oil was easily visible from the aircraft. He also maintains that the subsurface oil could come onshore along the Louisiana coast in surges especially when the Gulf waters are agitated by a tropical cyclone. [LSU News]
• The legacy of an ice age --
An image obtained from the MODIS instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellites shows North America's Laurentian Great Lakes, which were created after the Laurentide ice sheet receded at the end of the last Ice Age. These lakes contain approximately 20 percent of the Earth's freshwater and are under threat from runoff that could contribute to algae (phytoplankton) bloom. Water temperatures for the individual lakes reached record or near record levels during this past summer. The image was made when the region surrounding the Great Lakes was relatively cloud-free because of high atmospheric pressure located over the region. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• An All-Hazards Monitor --
This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes --
A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Earthweek --
Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD --

A request: If you have some ocean-related experience that you would like to share with other DataStreme Ocean participants, please send them to the email address appearing at the bottom of this document for possible inclusion in a News file. Thank you. EJH

Concept of the Week: The Birth of Surtsey, A Volcanic Island

In early November 1963, cod fishers plying the waters of the North Atlantic south of Iceland observed what appeared to be smoke or steam emanating from the distant ocean surface. They were witnessing the beginnings of a volcanic eruption that ultimately would give birth to a new island later named Surtsey after Surtur, the fire giant of Norse mythology. Surtsey is located at 63.4 degrees N, 20.3 degrees W or 33 km (20 mi) south of the coast of Iceland. Volcanic activity was nothing new to the fishers who lived on the nearby volcanic Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar). These islands as well as the main island of Iceland straddle the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary where hot molten lava wells up from the Earth's mantle, cools and solidifies into new oceanic crust.

Eruptions that produced Surtsey began on the ocean floor, some 130 m (427 ft) below sea level. The accumulating lava, cinders, and ash first emerged from the sea on 15 November 1963. Over the next 3.5 years, episodic eruptions built an island that eventually covered 2.5 square km (1 square mi) and attained a maximum elevation of 171 m (560 ft) above sea level. The initial eruptions were explosive as hot magma interacted with cold seawater producing dark jets of ash and steam that shot up to 200 m (656 ft) above two main volcanic vents. At this time, clouds of ash and steam rose into the atmosphere to altitudes perhaps as great as 10 km (6.2 mi). Subsequent eruptions were much more peaceful, consisting of quiescent flows of lava. When the eruptions ceased in early June 1967, a cubic kilometer of ash and lava had built up on the ocean floor with 9% of this volcanic material above sea level.

No volcanic activity has occurred on Surtsey since 1967 and geologists consider the volcanic island to be extinct with little risk of future eruptions. Nonetheless, Surtsey remains off limits to visitors except for scientists who obtain permission from the Icelandic government. The island offers scientists a unique opportunity to study not only the geology but also the establishment of plants and animals on the island, a process known as ecological succession. For example, by 1987, some 25 species of higher plants were growing on the initially barren island and 20 species of birds were nesting there.

Unless volcanic activity begins anew, the future is not bright for Surtsey. Some geologists predict that in a hundred years or so the island will be reduced to scattered stacks of rock. The island is composed of basaltic rock that is particularly vulnerable to weathering and erosion, ocean waves are eroding its shores, and the island is gradually sinking into the sea. Scientists reported a total subsidence of about 1.1 m (3.6 ft) between 1967 and 1991. Compaction of the volcanic material and the underlying sea-floor sediments are likely causes of the subsidence. For NASA topographical images of Surtsey, go to http://denali.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/garvin/surtsey.html . These images were obtained using a scanning airborne laser altimeter.

Concept of the Week: Questions

1. The volcanism responsible for the formation of Surtsey was associated with a [(divergent)(convergent)]tectonic plate boundary.
2. At present on Surtsey, erosive forces [(are)(are not)]prevailing over volcanic activity.

Historical Events

• 13-16 September 2004...Hurricane Ivan affected coastal Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle, with landfall near Gulf Shores, AL early on the 16th. Before breaking loose of its mooring, a buoy just south of the Alabama coastal waters reported a peak wave height of 52 feet on the 15th. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 14 September 1716...The Boston Light, the first lighthouse in America, was first lighted just before sunset. This light was located on Little Brewster Island to mark the entrance to Boston Harbor and guide ships past treacherous rocks. This original light was blown up by the British in 1776, rebuilt in 1783, and is currently the last staffed station in the U.S. (Today in Science History)
• 15 September 1752...A great hurricane produced a tide (storm surge )along the South Carolina coast that nearly inundated downtown Charleston. However, just before the surge reached the city, a shift in the wind caused the water level to drop five feet in ten minutes. (David Ludlum)
• 16 September 1928...Hurricane San Felipe, a monster hurricane, which left 600 dead in Guadeloupe and 300 dead in Puerto Rico, struck West Palm Beach, FL causing enormous damage, and then headed for Lake Okeechobee. Peak winds were near 150 mph. The high winds produced storm waves that breached the eastern dike on Lake Okeechobee, inundating flat farmland. When the storm was over, the lake covered an area the size of the state of Delaware, and beneath its waters were 1836 victims. The only survivors were those who reached large hotels for safety, and a group of fifty people who got onto a raft to take their chances out in the middle of the lake. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 16 September 1988...Hurricane Gilbert made landfall 120 miles south of Brownsville, TX in Mexico during the early evening. Winds gusted to 61 mph at Brownsville, and reached 82 mph at Padre Island. Six-foot tides eroded three to four feet of beach along the Lower Texas Coast, leaving the waterline seventy-five feet farther inland. Rainfall totals ranged up to 8.71 in. at Lamark, TX. Gilbert caused $3 million in property damage along the Lower Texas Coast, but less than a million dollars damage along the Middle Texas Coast. During its life span, Gilbert established an all-time record for the Western Hemisphere with a sea-level barometric pressure reading of 26.13 inches (888 millibars). Winds approached 200 mph, with higher gusts. Gilbert devastated Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (The Weather Channel)
• 17-23 September 1989...Hurricane Hugo hit the Virgin Islands on the 17^th, producing wind gusts to 97 mph at Saint Croix. Hurricane Hugo passed directly over the island of Saint Croix causing complete devastation and essentially cutting off the island's communications systems. A storm surge of five to seven feet occurred at Saint Croix. The only rain gauge left operating, at Caneel Bay, indicated 9.40 in. in 24 hrs. Hurricane Hugo claimed the lives of three persons at Saint Croix, and caused more than $500 million in damage. A ship, Nightcap, in the harbor of Culebra, measured wind gusts as high as 170 mph. On the 18^th, Hugo hit Puerto Rico, producing a storm surge of four to six feet, and northeastern sections of the island were deluged with more than ten inches of rain. Hugo claimed the lives of a dozen persons in Puerto Rico, and caused $1 billion in property damage, including $100 million in crop losses. On the 21^st, Hugo slammed into the South Carolina coast at about 11 PM, making landfall near Sullivans Island. Hurricane Hugo was directly responsible for thirteen deaths, and indirectly responsible for twenty-two others. A total of 420 persons were injured in the hurricane, and damage was estimated at $8 billion including $2 billion damage to crops. Sustained winds reached 85 mph at Folly Beach SC, with wind gusts as high was 138 mph. Wind gusts reached 98 mph at Charleston, and 109 mph at Shaw AFB. The highest storm surge occurred in the McClellanville and Bulls Bay area of Charleston County, with a storm surge of 20.2 ft reported at Seewee Bay. Shrimp boats were found one half-mile inland at McClellanville. On the 22^nd, Hugo quickly lost strength over South Carolina, but still was a tropical storm as it crossed into North Carolina, just west of Charlotte, at about 7 AM. Winds around Charlotte reached 69 mph, with gusts to 99 mph. Eighty percent of the power was knocked out to Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Property damage in North Carolina was $210 million and damage to crops was $97 million. The greatest storm surge occurred along the southern coast shortly after midnight, reaching nine feet above sea level at Ocean Isle and Sunset Beach. Hugo killed one person and injured fifteen others in North Carolina. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• 17 September 1996...Remnants of Hurricane Fausto that had initially formed over the eastern Pacific and moved northeastward from Mexico reformed into a powerful coastal storm in Atlantic waters off the Del-Mar-Va Peninsula, before passing Cape Cod in eastern Massachusetts. Winds gusted to 50 mph and rainfall was up to four inches. Minor coastal flooding in the New York City metropolitan area. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 18 September 1926...The great "Miami Hurricane" produced winds reaching 138 mph, which drove ocean waters into Biscayne Bay drowning 135 persons. The eye of the hurricane passed over Miami, at which time the barometric pressure dropped to 935.0 millibars (27.61 inches of mercury). Tides up to twelve feet high accompanied the hurricane, which claimed 372 lives. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 19 September 1957...Bathyscaph Trieste, in a dive sponsored by the Office of Naval Research in the Mediterranean, reached a record depth of 2 miles. (Naval Historical Center)
• 19 September 1967...Hurricane Beulah deluged Brownsville, TX with 12.19 in. of rain in 24 hrs, to establish a record for that location. Hurricane Beulah made landfall on the 20^th near the mouth of the Rio Grande River, where a wind gust of 135 mph was reported by a ship in the port. (19^th-20^th) (The Weather Channel)
• 20 September 1519...Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In October 1520, he passed through the straits that now bear his name separating Tierra del Fuego and the South American mainland and became the first known European explorer to enter the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic. In September 1522 one remaining ship from the original five that set sail returned to Spain, to become the first ship to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521. (The History Channel)
• 20 September 1909...A strong hurricane made landfall in southeastern Louisiana. A 15-ft storm surge flooded the Timbalier Bay area. Some 350 people perished. (Intellicast)

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Prepared by AMS DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2010, The American Meteorological Society.