Weekly Ocean News

WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK SIX: 27 February-3 March 2006

Ocean in the News

(Thurs.) Spying on deep-sea fish -- A research team participating in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystems Program component of the Census of Marine Life has found six new fish species in the deep-sea ecosystem along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. [EurekAlert!]
(Thurs.) Giant squid goes on display in London -- A giant squid caught off the Falkland Islands by a fishing trawler has been preserved and is now on display at the London Museum of Natural History. It's 28 ft. long. [BBC News]
(Thurs.) Where are the sharks? -- Based upon 20 years of exploration and 150 years of other records, an international team of researchers estimate that approximately 70 percent of the ocean is free of sharks, suggesting that sharks colonize to depths of no more than 3000 meters (10,000 feet). [EurekAlert!]
(Thurs.) A CryoSat replacement planned -- The European Space Agency announced that it would build a replacement for its CryoSat satellite that crashed into the Arctic Ocean last October. This satellite was designed to accurately measure the thickness of floating sea ice and the thickness of polar ice sheets. The new replacement mission is planned for launch in March 2009. [ESA]
(Thurs.) Deep ocean mining boom foreseen -- A geologist at the University of Toronto forecasts that recent developments in marine geology and deep ocean technology should signal the dawn of an era of deep ocean mining for gold and other mineral deposits at depths of more than 2 km. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) International cooperation should assure flow of data from polar orbiting satellites -- Officials from NOAA, the US agency responsible for monitoring the atmosphere and ocean from space, and their counterparts with EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) have signed a Data Denial Implementation Plan that is meant to secure the flow of real-time meteorological data to public duty users from instruments provided by NOAA onboard the EUMETSAT's MetOp satellites during periods of crisis that would usually require data denial. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Fish feeling just "beachy" -- A thousand flounder, spot and pin fish beached themselves at the Marine Corps New River Air Base in North Carolina on Friday. The fish appeared to be healthy, then by afternoon, simply swam away. One theory for the beaching is called "jubilee" where deoxygenated water drives the fish to shore. Such behavior is more typical of Mobile Bay in summertime. [ENN]
(Tues.) Warm subtropical waters may not be enough -- Scientists at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School report that although the waters of the Caribbean should be sufficiently warm to permit the growth of small larval fish, but other factors are critical for development of a flourishing population of these fish. [University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine Atmospheric Science]
(Tues.) Is temperature or nutrient level more critical for coral reefs? -- A research team from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, reporting on their survey of coral reefs in waters off South Florida, claims that increased nutrient pollution levels associated with harmful blooms of seaweed appear to be more critical than water temperature in most cases for reducing the areas where coral can produce reefs. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) Coral reef conservation addressed -- An international team of scientists are consulting with the Bahamian government in the recently launched Bahamas Biocomplexity Project, that will use an interdisciplinary approach to protect and manage the coral reefs in an attempt to conserve this fragile ecosystem. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) New technology employed to help understand marine earthquakes -- Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have been developing ocean bottom seismometers capable of detecting earthquakes from the ocean floor. Forty of these instruments are to be deployed on the ocean floor along the East Pacific Rise in the eastern Pacific Ocean. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
Perigean spring tides -- Extra high astronomical tides are expected due to a combination of events involving the moon, Earth and Sun. Perigee, the point in the lunar orbit when the moon is closest to Earth, occurs on 27 February 2006 (2028Z or 3:28 PM, EST, etc.) within four hours prior to new moon, when the moon is positioned between the Earth and Sun (officially at 0033Z on 28 February 2006 or 7:33 PM EST on the 27^th). This configuration results in a greater gravitational tug and "perigean spring tides" in the ocean and other large water bodies.
Additional help for coastal emergency managers -- NOAA's Coastal Services Center and National Weather Service, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the US Army Corps of Engineers and a computer software company, have developed a new component to the HURREVAC computer program that should provide enhanced inland forecast guidance to help emergency managers in New England respond to potential flooding events more quickly. [NOAA News]
Marine debris around Hawaii surveyed -- The NOAA Marine Debris Program has funded a two-week survey of derelict fishing gear and other marine debris that have accumulated around the Hawaiian Islands in an attempt to mitigate the problems associated with this debris and to help protect the marine environment. [NOAA News]
Drilling ban off California coast sought -- The two US senators and a representative from the US House of Representatives from the state of California have been seeking a permanent ban on new drilling in federal waters within three miles of the California coast. [San Francisco Chronicle]
Seafood in the diet outweighs risks -- A panel of scientists recently proposed that the benefits of eating seafood outweigh the potential risks associated with increased levels of contamination in fish associated with a variety of toxins such as mercury and PCBs. [EurekAlert!]
A coral reef has been discovered -- The World Wide Fund for Nature has confirmed discovery of a coral reef off the coast of Thailand that contains numerous forms of coral and over one-hundred species of fish. The WWF has been working with several governmental agencies to develop a marine national park that would protect the reef. [ENN]
Autonomous underwater vehicles used to monitor whales -- Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have been using passive acoustic recorders onboard autonomous underwater vehicles to help monitor and track the activities of baleen whales. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
Ocean could become acidic -- A marine scientist with the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School recently warned that increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are causing the world ocean to become more acidic (as indicated by a reduction in oceanic pH values), which would have a detrimental effect on most coral reefs. [University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science]
Ocean acidification is not new -- A researcher at the Carnegie Institution reports that the output from the computer model that he developed indicates increased oceanic acidity within the next century, which could rival the acidity in the ocean at the time of the mass extinction of marine life approximately 65 million years ago. [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: Abyssal Storms

Until recently, ocean scientists thought of the deep ocean abyss as a dark, cold but serene place where small particles rained gently onto the ocean floor. However, instruments lowered to the sea floor to measure ocean motion or currents and resulting mobilization of bottom sediments detected a much more active environment. Scientists found that bottom currents and abyssal storms occasionally scour the ocean bottom, generating moving clouds of suspended sediment. A surface current of 5 knots (250 cm/sec) is considered relatively strong. A bottom current of 1 knot ( 50 cm/sec) is ripping. Although this may be called an abyssal storm, the water motion pales by comparison to wind speeds in atmospheric storms.

Abyssal currents and storms apparently derive their energy from surface ocean currents. Wind-driven surface ocean currents flow about the margins of the ocean basins as gyres centered near 30 degrees latitude. (Refer to Figure 6.6, page 131, in your DataStreme Ocean textbook.) Viewed from above, these subtropical gyres rotate clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. For reasons given in Chapter 6 of your textbook and this week's Supplemental Information, surface currents flow faster, are narrower, and extend to greater depths on the western arm of the gyres. These are known as western boundary currents and include, for example, the Gulf Stream of the North Atlantic basin. Abyssal currents are also most vigorous on the western side of the ocean basins, moving along the base of the continental rise, which is on the order of several kilometers deep.

Abyssal storms may be linked to or may actually be eddies (rings) that occasionally break off from the main current of the Gulf Stream (and other western boundary currents). During an abyssal storm, the eddy or ring may actually reach to the bottom of the ocean where the velocity of a bottom current increases ten-fold to about 1.5 km (1 mi) per hr. While that is an unimpressive wind speed, water is much denser than air so that its erosive and sediment-transport capacity is significant even at 1.5 km per hr. At this higher speed, the suspended sediment load in the bottom current increases by a factor of ten. Abyssal storms scour the sea floor leaving behind long furrows in the sediment. After a few days to a few weeks, the current weakens or the eddy (ring) is reabsorbed into the main surface circulation and the suspended load settles to the ocean floor. In this way, abyssal storms can transport tons of sediment long distances, disrupting the orderly sequence of layers of deep-sea sediments. Scientists must take this disruption into account when interpreting the environmental significance of deep-sea sediment cores.

Concept of the Week: Questions

In the subtropical ocean gyres, boundary currents flow faster on the [(western)(eastern)] side of an ocean basin.
Currents in an abyssal storm erode, transport, and redeposit sediments that have accumulated on the [(continental shelf)(deep ocean bottom)].

Historical Events

27 February 1949...Aerial ice observation flights by long-range aircraft operated from Argentia, Newfoundland. An International Ice Patrol by vessels was neither required nor established during the 1949 season, and it was the first time that aircraft alone conducted the ice observation service. (USCG Historian's Office)
27 February 1988...A major rain event occurred across Saudi Arabia's Foroson Islands in the Red Sea and on the adjacent mainland around Jizon when 1.15 in. fell. The monthly average rainfall is only 0.02 in. On the following day, flash flooding south of Riyadh killed 3 children. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
28 February 1849...Regular steamboat service to California from the East Coast via Cape Horn arrived in San Francisco for the first time. The SS California had left New York Harbor on 6 October 1848 on a trip that took 4 months and 21 days. (Wikipedia)
28 February 1964...A world 12-hour rainfall record was set at Belouve, La Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean when 52.76 inches of rain fell. World records for 9 hours and 18.5 hours were also set with 42.79 and 66.49 inches, respectively. (Accord's Weather Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
29 February 1504...Christopher Columbus used his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies. (Wikipedia)
1 March 1498...The Portuguese explorer, Vasco de Gama, landed at what is now Mozambique on his way to India.
1 March 1854...The SS City of Glasgow left Liverpool harbor for Philadelphia and was never seen again with 480 people on board.
1 March 1902...The first regular light stations in Alaska were established at Southeast Five Finger Island and at Sentinel Island--both on the main inside passage between Wrangell Strait and Skagway. (USCG Historian's Office)
1 March 1905...The first regular light stations in Alaska were established. (USCG Historian's Office)
1 March 1927...A system of broadcasting weather reports by radio on four lightships on the Pacific Coast was put into effect. (USCG Historian's Office)
1 March 1970...US commercial whale hunting was ended.
1 March 1977...The United States extended its territorial waters to 200 miles.
1 March 1983...A ferocious storm battered the Pacific coast. The storm produced heavy rain and gale force winds resulting in flooding and beach erosion and in the mountains produced up to seven feet of snow in five days. An F2 tornado hit Los Angeles. Thirty people were injured and 100 homes were damaged. (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast)
3 March 1873...US Army Signal Corps established storm signal service for benefit of seafaring men, at several life-saving stations and constructed telegraph lines as original means of communication. (USCG Historian's Office)
3 March 1960...The submarine USS Sargo returned to Hawaii from an arctic cruise of 11,000 miles, of which 6,003 miles were under the polar ice, reaching the North Pole on 9 February. This cruise marked the first time that a submarine explored the Arctic in winter. (Naval Historical Center)
4-5 March 1899...Tropical cyclone Mahina (the Bathurst Bay Hurricane) crossed the Great Barrier Reef and generated a 48-ft storm surge across Barrow Point, Queensland, Australia. The Australian pearling fleet was destroyed, over 100 shipwrecks reported and 307 people killed. Barometric pressure fell to an unofficial reading of 915 millibars (27 inches of mercury). (Accord's Weather Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
5 March 1914...The Spanish ship the Principe de Asturias that was enroute from Barcelona to Buenos Aires sank with the loss of 445 of the 588 passengers and crew members when it struck the jagged reefs along the Brazilian coast at Ponta Boi in dense fog.
5-6 March 1962...The Great Atlantic Coast Storm of 1962 caused more than $200 million in property damage from Florida to New England. Winds along the Middle Atlantic Coast reached 70 mph raising 40-ft waves, and 42 inches of snow fell at Big Meadows, in the mountains of Virginia--a state record. The storm caused greater alteration of the coastline from Cape Hatteras, NC to Long Island than any previous storm, including hurricanes. A new inlet was cut through Hatteras Island and more than 10 miles of Outer Banks barrier dunes were obliterated. The Virginia shoreline was rearranged by historic tidal flooding caused by the combination of the long stretch of strong onshore winds and the spring tides. A 3-mile long boardwalk in Ocean City, MD was wiped out. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)