WEEK NINE: 1-4 November 2010

Items of Interest:

• Opportunity for Teachers:
The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Teacher at Sea 2011 Field Season program is now accepting applications until 30 November 2010. Gain your "sea legs" and first-hand experience in one-week to one-month voyages. For more information, or to apply, see http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov.

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics --
During the last week several tropical cyclones traveled across tropical waters in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres:
• In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Richard moved out over the Bay of Campeche at the start of last week after moving across Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. By early in the week, this former hurricane dissipated over southwestern Gulf of Mexico. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite images and additional information on Richard.
  An area of low pressure organized to become Tropical Storm Shary over the western North Atlantic at the end of last week. Moving initially to the northwest and then to the northeast, this storm became a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale as it passed close to Bermuda on Saturday. This hurricane was the eleventh of the hurricane of 2010 in the Atlantic basin. By Sunday, Hurricane Shary had dissipated. More information on Shary can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
  A tropical wave to the southeast of the Windward Islands organized to become Tropical Storm Tomas, the nineteenth named tropical cyclone of the season, at the end of last week. By Saturday, this storm became the twelfth Atlantic hurricane of 2010, briefly intensifying to a Category 2 hurricane early Sunday morning as it moved westward across the Caribbean. This hurricane could affect Puerto Rico and Hispaniola early this week.
• In western North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Chaba intensified to become a Category 4 typhoon early last week as it moved northward over the waters well to the east of Taiwan. This typhoon curved toward the north-northeast and approached Japan before weakening at the end of the week. More information and satellite images on Typhoon Chaba can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
• In the South Indian Ocean Basin, Tropical Storm 1S formed last week over the waters to the east-southeast of Diego Garcia. By the end of the week, this tropical storm had dissipated. For more information of Tropical Storm 1S, consult the NASA Hurricane Page.
  On Sunday, Tropical Storm Anggrek formed over the waters of the eastern South Pacific southwest of Sumatra.
• Major earthquake creates a tsunami --
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Indonesia last Monday evening (local time). This earthquake, with an epicenter approximately 12.8 miles below the ocean floor, generated a 10-foot tsunami along the coast of Pagai Island. By late last week, at least 414 fatalities were reported, along with 400 injuries. The earthquake was approximately 500 miles south of where the 9.1-magnitude earthquake in December 2004 that produced a tsunami that killed more than one quarter of a million people. An image shows the location of the earthquakes and aftershocks that were detected early last week on a bathymetric chart of the region. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Gulf seafood tests within safety limits for dispersant levels --
NOAA and US Food and Drug Administration scientists have developed a new rigorous sensory analysis to test the Gulf seafood for the presence of contaminants since the Deepwater Horizon-BP oil spill occurred late last spring. A chemical test has also been used to detect the presence of dispersants used in fish, oysters, crab and shrimp. Every seafood sample from reopened waters has passed sensory testing for contamination with oil and dispersant and are within the safety threshold. As of the end of last week, only approximately four percent of the federal waters in the Gulf remained closed to commercial and recreational fishing. [NOAA News]
• Support of fisheries research also helps in exploration of Pacific Ocean --
NOAA Fisheries scientists onboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer are returning to the California from a joint ocean expedition with Indonesian partners near Malaysia. During their return, they are making an essentially continuous collection of plankton samples, which would stretch more than 5800 miles, making it the longest such sampling. In addition, during their cruise from Hawaii to the US West Coast, they are collecting floating plastic debris from a concentrated area of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean, dubbed the "great Pacific garbage patch." [NOAA News]
• Tagging of narwhals shows continued warming of southern Baffin Bay --
Scientists from the University of Washington and from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources participating in a NOAA-funded expedition to the narwhal summering grounds in Melville Bay, West Greenland tagged these medium-sized toothed Arctic whales with satellite transmitters to collect environmental information. The temperature data collected from these transmitters indicate continued warming of these ocean waters during the last several years. [NOAA News]
• Funding provided for interagency research projects to advance ocean renewable energy --
Officials with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced that eight joint research awards were made available to support the responsible siting and permitting of offshore wind energy facilities and ocean energy generated from waves, tides, currents and thermal gradients. [NOAA News]
• Multiple contracts awarded for scientific and technical support services --
Last week NOAA awarded three Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contracts, to several firms for scientific and technical services to support the agency’s key mission and its five line offices (NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Ocean Service, National Weather Service and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research). These investments are to fund scientific research and climate monitoring. [NOAA News]
• An ocean climate center is opened in California --
Officials with NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary recently opened its new Ocean Climate Center at the Sanctuary's headquarters in San Francisco, CA. This Ocean Climate Center is designed to serve as a resource center for helping Bay Area scientists and the public understand about climate variability and change in the Sanctuary and the surrounding ocean. The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is located in the waters of the eastern North Pacific just off California's Golden Gate, which marks the entrance to San Francisco Bay. [NOAA News]
• New estuarine research reserve is designated --
Officials from NOAA and the University of Wisconsin Extension recently designated a nearly 17,000-acre tract of land along the shore of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin as the new Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, which will served as a "living laboratory" for coastal managers and officials. [NOAA News]
• Action agenda for recreational saltwater fisheries announced --
NOAA released its Recreational Saltwater Fisheries Action Agenda last week, which represents a national plan that is designed to address the complex issues facing the nation's marine recreational fisheries. [NOAA News]
• New map displays disappointing global distribution of life-saving mangrove forests --
A high-resolution, satellite-based global map was produced by the US Geological Survey of the world's mangrove forests following the deadly 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean basin. This new map shows that the mangrove forests, often regarded as an important ecosystem because they safeguard human life and properties from tsunamis and storm surges, are scarcer than previously estimated. [NASA’s Earth Science News Team]
• Increased shipping in Arctic likely to accelerate climate change --
A researcher at the University of Delaware and colleagues warn that as the Arctic warms and the ice cover shrinks, new shipping lanes across the previously ice covered polar ocean would increase the shipping, which would increase pollution and accelerate additional warming. [University of Delaware]
• Louisiana coastal islands are in trouble from sea level rise, hurricanes, and an oil spill --
Researchers from the University of New Orleans and Tulane University warn that the Chandeleur Islands-Biloxi Marsh system east of the mouth of the Mississippi River and Grand Isle to the west appear to be in major trouble. These islands and their ecosystems are facing losses due to sea level rise and local subsidence, flooding from hurricanes and the unknown toll from the recent BP oil spill. [Geological Society of America]
• Assessing carbon dioxide patterns when last Ice Age ended --
Researchers at the University of Florida who have been studying isotopic composition of fossil fish teeth report that the large quantities of carbon sequestered in the cold waters of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica during the last Ice Age were suddenly released into the atmosphere during the transition to the current interglacial period beginning approximately 14,000 years ago. [University of Florida News]
• Call to action issued as rising seas threaten archaeological sites --
Concerned that rising sea levels due to changing climate could cause the loss of thousands of archaeological sites in coastal areas around the world, archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution, Southern Methodist University and of the University of Oregon have issued a call to action for scientists to assess those sites most at risk. They propose development of a Cultural Resource Vulnerability Index of these sites so informed decisions can be made about how to preserve or salvage them. [EurekAlert!]
• 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, 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, 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: Controlling Nutrient Input into Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay is the nation's largest estuary; it is more than 300 km (185 mi) long, 65 km (40 mi) at its broadest, and averages about 20 m (66 ft) deep. The estuary was formed by the post-glacial rise in sea level that flooded the valley of the ancient Susquehanna River. The Bay receives about half its water from the Atlantic Ocean and the other half from the more than 150 rivers and streams draining a 166,000 square kilometer land area encompassing parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Major rivers that empty into Chesapeake Bay include the Potomac, Susquehanna, York, and James.

As described in more detail on pages 183-185 of your DataStreme Ocean textbook, an estuary is a complex and highly productive ecosystem where seawater and freshwater runoff meet and mix to some degree. In Chesapeake Bay, more-dense seawater creeps northward along the bottom of the estuary, moving under the less-dense fresh water flowing in the opposite direction. This circulation combined with wind-driven and tidal water motions causes salinity to decrease upstream in the Bay, from values typical of the open ocean at its mouth to freshwater values at its northern margin.

As in all ecosystems, organisms living in estuaries depend on one another and their physical environment for food energy and habitat. Phytoplankton and submerged aquatic vegetation (e.g., marsh grass) are the primary producers (autotrophs) in estuarine food chains. Chesapeake Bay consumers (heterotrophs) include zooplankton, finfish, shellfish, birds, and humans.

Human activity has greatly modified Chesapeake Bay with consequences for the functioning of the ecosystem. Much of the original forests that covered its drainage basin were cleared and converted to farmland, roads, cities, and suburban developments. These modifications accelerated the influx of nutrients (i.e., compounds of phosphorus and nitrogen), sediment, pesticides, and other pollutants into the Bay. More nutrients spur growth of algal populations and when these organisms die (in mid-summer), their remains sink to the bottom. Decomposition of their remains reduces dissolved oxygen levels in the Chesapeake's bottom water. More sediment increases the turbidity of the water, reducing sunlight penetration for photosynthesis. Presently Chesapeake Bay is on the Federal list of "impaired waters" and in need of pollution abatement and remediation. States in the drainage basin have agreed to work together to clean up the Bay but there are significant obstacles including cost.

One casualty of human modification of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem was marsh grass-reduced by 90% from historical levels. Marsh grass anchors sediment and dampens wave action thereby controlling shoreline erosion and turbidity. Marsh grass is a food source for many organisms including waterfowl and small mammals and serves as a primary nursery for crabs and many species of fish. Reduction of this habitat along with over-fishing has been implicated in the decline of populations of blue crabs, a mainstay of the Bay fishery for more than a century. Over the past decade, the number of adult female blue crabs plunged by 80%. Without adequate protection by marsh grass, blue crabs are more vulnerable to predation by striped bass (i.e., rockfish). Striped bass turned to blue crabs as a food source when fishing reduced the numbers of menhaden, their preferred food. Menhaden is a marine fish in the herring family and the Bay's top fishery by weight.

Human modification of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin converted it from an essentially closed system to an open system. In the original climax forests, nutrients primarily cycled within the system with relatively little input to the Bay. Modification of the land for agriculture increased the area of the soil exposed to the elements and runoff from rain and snowmelt accelerated nutrient input into the Bay. In addition to such non-point (area) sources of nutrients are point sources including the effluent of wastewater treatment plants that discharge treated water into rivers and streams that drain into the Bay.

For decades, agriculture has successfully employed various cultivation practices that limit the runoff from cropland (e.g., contour plowing, strip cropping, and retention ponds.) However, less than one-third of the 300-wastewater treatment facilities located in the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin have the technology to remove high levels of nutrients from their effluent. Under current environmental regulations, states are not required to regulate the nutrient content of this discharge. But in late October 2003, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a private, not-for-profit environmental advocacy organization called on Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia to specify nutrient limits on permits they grant to all wastewater treatment facilities. In support of their recommendations, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation cited the many water quality problems stemming from excessive nutrient load in the Bay waters (e.g., algal blooms, spread of "dead zones.") According to the U. S. EPA, under the federal Clean Water Act, a state can control nitrogen pollution if it determines that environmental harm is taking place. However, the EPA estimates that as much as $4.4 billion would be required to install state-of-the-art nutrient removal technologies at all major plants (those treating more than 500,000 gallons of wastewater per day).

Concept of the Week: Questions

1. In terms of nutrient cycling, the climax forest that originally occupied the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin was a(n) [(open)(closed)] system.
2. Excessive input of nutrients into Chesapeake Bay [(spurs the growth of)(has little impact on)] algal populations and [(increases)(reduces)] the concentration of dissolved oxygen in bottom waters.

Historical Events:

• 1 November 1521...Four ships in the fleet commanded by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan began sailing through the passage immediately south of mainland South America connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, now known as the Strait of Magellan. Because this passage began on All Saints Day, Magellan initially called the 373-mile long passage, the Estreito (Canal) de Todos los Santos , or "All Saints' Channel". (Wikipedia)
• 1 November 1755...Lisbon, Portugal was destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing between 60,000 and 90,000 people. (Wikipedia)
• 1 November 1859...The current Cape Lookout, NC lighthouse was lit for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for nineteen miles. (Wikipedia)
• 1 November 1861...A hurricane near Cape Hatteras, NC battered a Union fleet of ships attacking Carolina ports, and produced high tides and high winds in New York State and New England. (David Ludlum)
• 1 November 1884...Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was nearly unanimously adopted at a meeting of 25 nations at the International Meridian Conference in Washington, DC. This time is also called Greenwich Meridian Time because it is measured from the Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. At that time, the International Date Line was also drawn and 24 time zones created. (Today in Science History)
• 2 November 1493...Explorer Christopher Columbus first sighted the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea.
• 3 November 1975...The North Sea pipeline, Firth of Forth, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. The first oil was piped ashore from the North Sea at Peterhead, Scotland in a pipe that ran from British Petroleum's "Forties Field" for 110 miles along the seabed and then 130 miles to the oil refinery at Grangemouth. The field was discovered by the drilling rig Sea Quest in October 1970. (Today in Science History)
• 6 November 1528...Shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca became the first known European to set foot on Texas soil, near present-day Galveston Island. (Wikipedia)

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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.