Weekly Ocean News

WEEK SIX: 3-7 October 2016

Items of Interest

Celebrate National Seafood Month -- The US Department of Commerce, along with one of its agencies, NOAA Fisheries, is celebrating this month of October 2016 as National Seafood Month. According to statistics compiled by this agency the seafood industry supports 1.2 million jobs nationwide and added $55 billion to the nation's GDP in 2011. [NOAA Fisheries]
A Cool(!) experience -- Teachers may apply for research experiences in the polar regions. Become a scientific team member on projects in the climatically sensitive area while showcasing your results back to classrooms. PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a program in which K-12 teachers spend 3-6 weeks participating in hands-on field research experiences in the polar regions. The goal of PolarTREC is to invigorate polar science education and understanding by bringing K-12 educators and polar researchers together. For more information, see https://www.polartrec.com/. Applications due 10 October 2016.
Student boat from Maryland reaches coast of Wales -- The Osprey, an unmanned boat with a time capsule, recently reached the coast of Wales in the British Isles after it was launched off the New Jersey coast by students from Kent School in Chestertown, Maryland this past 13 June. [BBC News Wales] [Editor's note Special thanks go to Terri Kirby Hathaway, Marine Education Specialist for the North Carolina Sea Grant Program and an AMS DataStreme LIT Leader from Manteo, NC for forwarding this article. EJH]
Weather Bureau meteorologist killed in WWII patrol in North Atlantic to be honored -- This coming Friday, 7 October 2016, a ceremony will be held at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta to posthumously award the Purple Heart Medal to Luther H. Brady, a US Weather Bureau (now National Weather Service) meteorologist, who lost his life when the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Muskeget he was serving on as an assistant weather observer was sunk by enemy fire in the North Atlantic in September 1942. [NOAA Media Advisory]
Biomixing in ocean motion -- If you would like information on recent findings that indicate marine organisms contribute to motion in the ocean, please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth.
Counting down for launch of GOES-R, nation's new generation of advanced weather satellites -- Weather experts are anticipating the upcoming launch of NOAA's GOES-R, the first in a new series of four highly advanced weather satellites in early November 2016. Data collected from the sensors onboard GOES-R should help improve NOAA's ability to more accurately predict severe weather events, improve aircraft flight path planning and monitor solar activity. A media briefing is to be held on Tuesday, 11 October, in Washington, DC with a several leading NOAA and NASA officials highlighting the upcoming launch and the GOES-R mission. [NOAA Media Advisory] Editor's Note Special thanks go to Vicky Gorman, a DataStreme LIT member in New Jersey who sent a NASA calendar agenda for the GOES R takeoff. Educators should investigate the Education & Outreach Portal for classroom activities, educational material, lesson plans, and learning tools and games designed by GOES-R partners to help educate students about weather, satellite meteorology and Earth science. EJH

Ocean in the News

From last week -- Eye on the Tropics -- Tropical cyclone activity continued in the Atlantic and Pacific basins of the Northern Hemisphere during the last week:

In the North Atlantic basin, the remnants of Tropical Storms Karl and Lisa had dissipated by the start of last week.
Last Wednesday Tropical Storm Matthew formed over the Windward Islands, approximately 35 miles to the southeast of St. Lucia or 35 miles to the east-northeast of St. Vincent as the 13th named tropical cyclone of 2016. Moving generally westward, Tropical Storm Matthew intensified to become the year's fifth hurricane on Thursday afternoon approximately 190 miles west of the Caribbean island nation of Curacao that is located off the Venezuelan coast. Continuing to strengthen as it traveled to the west-southwest, Hurricane Matthew rapidly intensified to become a major category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale by late Friday evening, the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Felix in 2007 as maximum sustained surface winds reached 160 mph as determined by an Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft. At that time Matthew was approximately 80 miles to the northwest of Punta Gallinas, Colombia. On Saturday Matthew slowly weakened to a category 4 as it began curving to the northwest. On Sunday, Matthew traveled toward the northwest and as of midevening it was located approximately 265 miles to the south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica or 335 miles to the south-southwest of Port au Prince, Haiti. Air Force Hurricane Hunters were still reporting Matthew to be a major Category 4 hurricane. Current forecasts indicate that Matthew should continue slowly curving to the north-northwest on Monday, with the center of Matthew projected to approach Jamaica and southwestern Haiti. Little change in intensity was anticipated on Monday or Tuesday. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite imagery and information on Hurricane Matthew.
In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Depression 18E strengthened to become Tropical Storm Roslyn early Monday morning, the 17th named tropical cyclone of 2016 in the basin. At that time Roslyn was approximately 750 miles to the west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Traveling generally toward the north and north-northeast, Roslyn remained a minimal tropical storm through early Wednesday morning, when it was downgraded to a tropical depression. As of early Thursday morning Tropical Depression Roslyn had become a remnant low approximately 360 miles to the west of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Satellite images and additional information on Tropical Storm Roslyn can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
The nineteenth tropical depression of 2016 formed in the far western sections of the eastern North Pacific basin on Monday morning, approximately 1170 miles to the east-southeast of Hilo, HI. After crossing the 140 degree West longitude meridian into the central North Pacific basin, this tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Ulika late Monday evening (Hawaiian time). Turning to the northeast, Ulika returned to the eastern Pacific basin on Tuesday afternoon. By Thursday afternoon, Ulika had curved toward the northwest and reentered the central Pacific basin. As of Thursday night, Ulika had weakened to a tropical depression and then to a remnant low early Friday morning as it was located approximately 825 miles to the east of Hilo. See the NASA Hurricane Page for further details on Tropical Storm Ulika.
In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Megi became a category 4 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it reached Taiwan and made landfall early last week. Traveling across northern Taiwan, Megi made a second landfall on the coast of mainland China during the second half of the week. Torrential rains and strong winds caused a major power outage across Taiwan, where at least four people were killed. In China, at least one fatality was reported due to Megi. At that time Megi was located approximately 400 miles to the south of Okinawa. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite images and information on Typhoon Megi.
Tropical Storm Chaba developed near Guam during the middle of last week. Traveling to the northwest, Chaba strengthened to become a typhoon. As of Monday (local time) Typhoon Chaba had strengthened to a category 4 typhoon and was located approximately 180 miles to the south of Okinawa, Japan, with movement to the northwest. High winds, large waves and intense rains were accompanying this typhoon. Forecasts indicate that Chaba should curve toward the northeast and pass close to the Ryukyu Islands, the southern main Japanese islands and southern South Korea. Satellite images and additional information on Typhoon Chaba can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.

"The Biology Bus" used to study intertidal organisms along West Coast -- Dr. Nyssa Silbiger, a former Nancy Foster Scholar, and her colleagues conducted research into the impacts of climatic change on intertidal marine communities at 12 sites along the West Coast during this past summer. Three national marine sanctuaries were selected: Monterey Bay, Greater Farallones and Olympic Coast The team packed their equipment in a van that they dubbed "the Biology Bus." The NOAA Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program recognizes outstanding scholarship particularly by female and minority students and encourages independent graduate level research in NOAA mission-related sciences of oceanography, marine biology and maritime archaeology. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
More accurate counts of endangered Steller sea lions helped by new technology -- Scientists with the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Marine Mammal Lab who are conducting their annual Steller sea lion surveys along the Aleutian Island chain in southwestern Alaska have been relying on new technology along with human observations to make more accurate counts of the endangered Steller sea lions. Hexacopter drones are part of the advanced technology used. In addition, sophisticated maps and data visualizations are generated to clearly show detailed information and effectively demonstrate patterns and trends. [NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center]
Inspecting a coral reef "Down Under, down under" -- A blog is being written by a member of NASA's Coral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) mission survey team describing her experiences in studying the underwater coral reefs off the coast of Queensland, Australia during the last several weeks. CORAL is to provide critical data and new models needed to analyze the status of coral reefs and to predict their future. [NASA Blogs]
Harmful algal bloom forecast system development funded in the Pacific Northwest -- NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) are providing funds to several partners for development of a harmful algal bloom (HAB) forecast in the Pacific Northwest to support management of shellfisheries, clamming beaches, and human health. Forecast bulletins predicting bloom location and concentration are to be generated by the University of Washington using its LiveOcean model and released several days in advance. This experimental monitoring and forecasting system is scheduled to be launched in 2017. [NOAA NCCOS News]
Sea level in North Indian Ocean seen to rise abruptly in last decade -- A team of researchers from the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center recently reported that the sea level of the northern Indian Ocean rose approximately twice as fast as the global average since 2003 based upon their analysis of ocean surface height data collected by satellites since the 1990s. Furthermore, the researchers found that the sea level rise during the last decade in the North Indian Ocean was more than rates of rise in that basin in the previous decade. Two important mechanisms of wind-driven heat redistribution within the Indian Ocean appear to account for a majority of the decadal variability. [NOAA News]
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels passes a threshold -- As of this past month of September 2016, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels appear to have remained above the 400 ppm (parts per million) threshold for the entire year, which would mean that 2016 could represent the first time that the concentrations of this greenhouse gas has remained above the 400 ppm threshold in recorded history, since this time of year usually is the time when carbon dioxide reaches it annual minimum. [Climate Central News]
An All-Hazards Monitor-- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Concept of the Week: Abyssal Storms

Until recently, ocean scientists thought of the deep ocean abyss as a dark and 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 152, in your 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

3 October 1780...A hurricane, which formed on 1 October, destroyed the port city of Savanna-la-Mar on the island of Jamaica on this day. By some estimates, this hurricane caused 3,000 deaths. (National Weather Service files)
3 October 1841...The "October Gale," the worst of record for Nantucket, MA, caught the Cape Cod fishing fleet at sea. Forty ships were driven ashore on Cape Cod, and 57 men perished from the town of Truro alone. Heavy snow fell inland, with 18 inches reported near Middletown, CT and 3 inches at Concord, MA. (David Ludlum)
4 October 1582...The Gregorian Calendar was implemented by Pope Gregory XIII to correct for an increasing discrepancy between the leap year corrections of the Julian Calendar and the actual length of the year marked by the Earth's orbit of the sun. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, 4 October of this year was followed directly by 15 October, skipping over 10 days. (Wikipedia)
4 October 1869...A great storm struck New England. The storm reportedly was predicted twelve months in advance by a British officer named Saxby. Heavy rains and flooding plagued all of New England, with strong winds and high tides along the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Canton, CT was deluged with 12.35 inches of rain. (David Ludlum)
4 October 2005...Hurricane Stan, a minimal Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph maximum sustained surface winds, made landfall near Punta Roca Partida, Mexico at 4 AM EDT on this day. While not a particularly strong hurricane the torrential rains caused flooding and landslides, which resulted in 1513 deaths in Guatemala. (National Weather Service files)
5 October 1864...A tropical cyclone hit India near Calcutta, devastating the city and killing about 60,000 people in the region. (National Weather Service files)
6 October 1963...For five days along the coast of Cuba, Hurricane Flora lashed the island with winds up to 100 mph and dumped over 70 inches of rain. The storm killed 7,000 people. (National Weather Services files)
7 October 1737...A furious cyclone in the Bay of Bengal caused a major disaster at the mouth of the Hoogby River near Calcutta, India. As many as 300,000 people were killed, mainly as the result of the storm's forty foot high surge. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
7 October 1844...A major hurricane swept over Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas. 158 vessels were wrecked and 2546 houses were destroyed along the Cuban coast. (National Weather Services files)
9 October 1804...The famous "Snow Hurricane" moved ashore along the New Jersey coast near Atlantic City on this day. After briefly passing through Connecticut and into Massachusetts, cool air was entrained in the circulation with heavy snow falling between New York to southern Canada. The Berkshires in Massachusetts and Concord, NH recorded two feet of snow with this hurricane. (National Weather Services files)
9 October 1873...LT Charles Belknap called a meeting at the Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the U.S. Navy. (Navy Historical Center)
9 October 1967...A cyclone of relatively small dimension with a surface width of only 31 miles, hit India's coast at Orissa and moved to the northeast along the coast for 75 miles. As many as 1000 people and 50,000 head of cattle died. A surge in the storm's wake penetrated 16 miles inland. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)