Weekly Ocean News

WEEK NINE: 29 October-2 November 2012

For Your Information

Opportunity for Teachers: The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Teacher at Sea 2013 Field Season program is now accepting applications until the end of business on 31 October 2012. 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.
Asteroids, climate change and mass extinctions -- You are invited to read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth that describes how geoscientists have gathered evidence of five major mass extinctions over the last 550 million years from fossil records. These records also help in reconstructing past climates and help in the understanding of climate change.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- During the last week, several tropical cyclones were found across the North Atlantic, the North Pacific Oceans and the North Indian Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere:

In the North Atlantic basin, a tropical depression formed at the start of last week over the southwestern Caribbean Sea to the south of Jamaica. This tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Sandy, the eighteenth named tropical cyclone of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. Passing across Jamaica, Sandy intensified to become the tenth Atlantic hurricane of the 2012. After intensifying to a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, Hurricane Sandy traveled northward across southeastern Cuba and the Bahamas during the latter part of the week. Over the weekend, Hurricane Sandy weakened slightly as it continued to move north offshore of the Southeastern States. Forecasts indicate that Hurricane Sandy could interact with a midlatitude storm and loose its tropical characteristics early in the week as it would turn toward the northwest and make landfall early this week along the Middle Atlantic coast. However, the resulting storm was expected to remain relatively intense, with hurricane-force winds, storm surge and torrential rain and was likened to "The Perfect Storm" of late October 1991. [UCAR/NCAR AtmosNews] Additional information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Sandy can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
Farther to the east, another tropical depression formed over the central tropical Atlantic well to the northeast of the Leeward Islands early in the week to become Tropical Storm Tony. This tropical storm moved toward the northeast and eventually lost its tropical characteristics when it was absorbed by a mid latitude system. See the NASA Hurricane Page for more information on Tropical Storm Tony.
No organized tropical cyclones were found in the eastern North Pacific basin last week.
In the western North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Son-tinh formed over the waters of the Philippine Sea to the east of the Philippines early last week. After crossing the Philippines Son-tin had strengthened to a typhoon as it moved to the west-northwest across the South China Sea. By late in the week, Typhoon Son-tinh had intensified to a major category 3 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it moved into the Gulf of Tonkin. By late in the weekend, Typhoon Son-tinh had weakened as it was about to make landfall along the northern coast of Vietnam. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on Typhoon Son-tinh along with satellite imagery.
In the North Indian Ocean basin, the first named Arabian Sea tropical cyclone of the 2012 season formed early last week approximately 350 miles to the east-southeast of Cape Guardafui, Somalia. Identified as Tropical Storm Murjan, this system was short-lived as it made landfall along the coast of the Horn of Africa within 30 hours after formation. The NASA Hurricane Center has additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Murjan.

Canadian earthquake gave Hawaiians fear of a tsunami -- A magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the coastal waters of British Columbia's Haida Gwaii (formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands) late Saturday evening triggered the posting of a tsunami warning for the coasts of British Columbia and the Hawaiian Islands. However, the warning was later lifted as the height of the tsunami wave reached only 2.5 feet in Hawaii. [CNN News]
Watershed education projects for K-12 students gets financial support -- During the last week, NOAA officials announced 59 projects were to receive a total of $5.5 million designed to support activities that would allow thousands of K-12 students to participate in outdoor hands-on environmental education activities. The grants would be from NOAA Office of Education's Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program, which serve seven areas of the country: California, Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, New England, and the Pacific Northwest. [NOAA News]
Notable anniversaries observed -- Recently, NOAA officials celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act in 1972 that created the agency's National Marine Sanctuary System, which was designed to preserve and protect the treasured and spectacular maritime resources in the coastal waters of the nation, including the Great Lakes and the territories in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. [NOAA News] The Coastal Zone Management Act was also passed in October 1972, which was designed to preserve, protect, develop, enhance and restore the nation’s coastal resources. [NOAA National Ocean Service] The Marine Mammal Protection Act designed to protect essentially all marine mammals in the nation's waters also turned 40 years old in October. [NOAA Fisheries Service]
Collaborative research projects funded to help coastal communities manage effects of climate change -- Recently, NOAA and the University of New Hampshire have announced that more than $4.9 million has been awarded through NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative to fund nine collaborative research projects aimed at making coastal communities and environments more resilient to rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, extreme storms, and ocean warming and acidification. [NOAA News]
Polar ice appear to behave oppositely in two hemispheres -- A new NASA study produced by climate scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has shown that the sea ice cover over the Arctic Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere has been decreasing during the last three decades since satellite surveillance began in 1979, while the total extent of sea ice in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere has been increasing. The scientists describe what they consider to be the reasons for the opposite behaviors of the sea ice in the two hemispheres that include different geographies and the effects of absorbed solar radiation and the atmospheric circulation regimes. Comparative satellite-derived images for September 2012 are included that show the record minimal extent of the summer sea ice in the Arctic and the record maximum wintertime sea ice around Antarctica. [NASA Earth Science News Team]
Old Weather-Arctic citizen science project to Reconstruct historical climate of the Arctic -- NOAA, the National Archives and Records Administration, the citizen science web portal called Zooniverse and other partners are seeking volunteers to transcribe a newly digitized set of ship logs from US Navy, US Coast Guard and Revenue Cutter voyages in the Arctic between 1850 and the World War II era. The project is called the Old Weather-Arctic citizen science project. These logs, which have been preserved by NARA, could provide a wealth of weather data for climate scientists from around the world. [NOAA News]
New radar unit helps characterize oil marine oil spill -- Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology have developed a method that uses a specialized NASA 3-D imaging radar to characterize the oil in oil spills, such as the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This radar unit, carried on a NASA C-20A piloted aircraft, was tested over the Gulf and was able to characterize the oil within a slick, distinguishing very thin oil films from more damaging thick oil emulsions. [NASA JPL]
Assessing the Japanese fisheries after the Fukushima disaster -- A marine biologist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have analyzed data collected by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on the radiation levels in fish, shellfish and seaweed collected at ports in and around Japan's Fukushima Prefecture roughly 18 months after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and massive 40-foot tsunami caused major damage of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The recent study indicates that the vast majority of fish caught off the northeast coast of Japan remain below limits for seafood consumption. Levels of contamination in almost all classifications of fish are not declining, with some fish not showing any appreciable contamination. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
Historic shipwreck is identified in waters off California's Channel Islands -- A maritime archaeologist for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently identified the remains of the George E. Billings, a rare five-masted lumber schooner that was scuttled in 1941 in the waters of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off the southwestern California coast. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
Increased amounts of plastic litter found in the Arctic deep sea -- A biologist and deep-sea expert from Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research recently reported that increased quantities of marine debris including plastic litter have been found at the Institute's deep-sea observatory HAUSGARTEN in the eastern Fram Strait during the last decade. This Strait is at an entrance to the Arctic Ocean along the sea route between Greenland and the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. [Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research]
Survival odds of Puerto Rico's manatees affected by isolation -- In a study conducted by the US Geological Survey and the Puerto Rico Manatee Conservation Center, researchers suggest that the lack of cross-breeding between endangered manatees in the waters off Puerto Rico and the manatees off the Florida coast. The researchers claim that this separation has resulted in less genetic diversity in the small population of the Puerto Rico's manatees, which would impact the odds of their survival. [USGS Newsroom]
Early history of atmospheric and oceanic oxygen investigated -- Geochemists from the University of California-Riverside, the University of Manitoba and the University of Johannesburg have used isotope analysis to study the changes in oxygen levels in both the atmosphere and oceans of early planet Earth. They found that a dramatic increase in oxygen levels within both the atmosphere and ocean occurred in what is called the "Great Oxidation Event" at approximately 2.4 billion years ago was followed a major drop in oxygen approximately 200 million years later. [University of California, Riverside Today]
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.

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 227-229 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

In terms of nutrient cycling, the climax forest that originally occupied the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin was a(n) [(open)(closed)] system.
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:

29 October 1999...Tropical Cyclone 5B, with sustained winds of 155 mph, made landfall at Paradwip (Orissa, India). A storm surge of at least 20-ft height swept at least 12 mi inland. More than 10,000 people were killed. With 2 million homes either damaged or destroyed, 35 million people were left homeless. Damage from this tropical cyclone was $1.5 billion. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
30 October-1 November 1991...After absorbing Hurricane Grace on the 29^th, an intense ocean storm took an unusual course and moved westward along 40 degrees north latitude and battered eastern New England with high winds and tides. Winds had already been gusting over 50 mph along the coast 2 days before, so seas and tides were very high. Major coastal flooding and beach erosion occurred all along the New England, New York, and New Jersey coasts. Over 1000 homes were damaged or destroyed with tides 4 to 7 ft above normal. Wind gusts reached 78 mph at Chatham, MA and 74 mph at Gloucester, MA. A ship east of New England reported a 63-ft wave. Total damage from the storm was $200 million. On 1 November this ocean storm underwent a remarkable transformation. Convection developed and rapidly wound around the storm center and an eye became visible on satellite imagery. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft found a small but intense circulation with maximum winds of 75 mph. This evolution from a large extratropical low to a small hurricane is rare but not unprecedented. (Intellicast)
31 October 1874...A waterspout (a tornado-like vortex that travels over water) formed over Lake Erie and reached the lakeshore approximately 0.5 mi west of Buffalo, NY. Upon reaching the shore, it dissipated, scattering sand in all directions. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
31 October 1876...A 10 to 50 ft storm surge ahead of the Backergunge cyclone flooded the eastern Ganges Delta in India (now Bangladesh). Over 100,000 people drowned. (The Weather Doctor)
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)