Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK ONE:

3-7 September 2007

Ocean in the News:

(Thurs.) Variety of volcanoes may have helped increase oxygen in Earth's early atmosphere -- Scientists at Penn State University and the University of Western Australia claim that a switch approximately 2.5 billion years ago from volcanoes that were primarily undersea to those that were also located above water appeared to assist in the development of an atmosphere containing sufficient levels of oxygen. They argue that submarine volcanoes prior to the switch were limiting the accumulation of oxygen from cyanobacteria found in the ancient oceans. [EurekAlert!]
(Thurs.) Green ship initiative highlighted -- An article in the NOAA Magazine highlights the three large diesel-powered NOAA research vessels operated by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. These vessels, which operate on bio-based, vegetable products, are an example of NOAA's efforts at a "Green Ship Initiative." [NOAA Magazine]
(Thurs.) Coastal water quality monitored from space -- Scientists at the University of South Florida have found that they can monitor water quality of coastal waters on nearly a daily basis using water turbidity data collected from the SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instruments onboard NASA satellites. [NASA Earth Observatory] (images appear on the NASA GSFC news site)
(Tues.) Tropical Update:
- Felix regains category 5 status and lands on the Nicaragua-Honduras border. Eighteen feet of storm surge was predicted accompanied by up to 8 inches of rain. As it tracks inland, dangerous landslides are anticipated. [CNN]
- Category One Hurricane Henriette is poised to make landfall on the lower Baja California peninsula Tuesday afternoon. [NOAA's NHC]
(Tues.) Quick-fix levees could be airlifted -- Bladder-type levees that could be airlifted are being developed by the US Departments of Defense and Homeland Security in an effort to provide New Orleans or other municipalities with expedient repair devices for breached levees. [New Scientist]
(Tues.) Record low levels on Lake Superior -- A combination of below average precipitation since early 2006 and above average temperatures since 2005 across the northern Great Lakes has helped send the lake level of Lake Superior to a record low level [NWS Forecast Office, Marquette]
(Tues.) First NOAA Open Rivers Initiative project completed -- The last dam was breached on Oregon's Calapooia River recently as part of the inaugural project of NOAA's Open Rivers Initiative, an effort involving local, state and NOAA Fisheries Services designed to remove the dams and other artificial barriers on rivers that prevent salmon from traveling upstream for spawning. [NOAA News]
Eye on the tropics ---
- In the North Atlantic Basin, the sixth tropical storm of the season, Felix formed as it moved westward past the Lesser Antilles and into the eastern Caribbean at the end of last week. By late Saturday night, this tropical storm had intensified into the second hurricane of the 2007 North Atlantic hurricane season. By late Sunday afternoon it had continued to strengthen to a major Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. [USA Today]
- In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Gil formed last week and moved westward away from the Mexican coast before weakening to a tropical depression at the start of the weekend. An image from NOAA's GOES-11 satellite shows the clouds surrounding Tropical Storm Gil last Thursday morning as the sun was rising across the eastern North Pacific. [NOAA OSEI]
  The eighth named tropical cyclone (hurricane or tropical storm) of the season, Tropical Storm Henriette formed late last week off the Mexican coast and moved northwestward paralleling the coast. As of Sunday, this strong tropical storm continued to move toward the northwest. Torrential rain accompanying Tropical Storm Henriette produced mudslides and flooding that killed six people in the coastal resort city of Acapulco as of Saturday. [Reuters]
- In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Fitow (a counterpart of a hurricane west of the Dateline) developed early last week near the Northern Marianna Islands and initially moved northward before curving to the west. An image made by sensors on the Japanese MTSAT satellite shows a large swirl of clouds around a central eye, a characteristic of a tropical cyclone. [NOAA OSEI]
- An oceanographer from Chetumal, Mexico claims that while few humans were killed when Hurricane Dean, a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula last month, the hurricane caused severe damage to the ecosystem of the Mexican coast, destroying or damaging forests and killing wildlife. [New Scientist]
Sounds from humpback whales studied -- Researchers from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of New Hampshire and NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program using multi-sensor acoustic tags placed on humpback whales recorded and studied the clicks and buzzes called "megapclicks" emitted from these whales during nighttime feeding in waters in and near the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the Massachusetts coast. [NOAA News]
Northwest Passage is nearly open -- The sea ice surrounding the Canadian archipelago that has blocked efforts of explorers since the late 15th century to find the Northwest Passage between the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans appears nearly melted according to an image obtained last week from a MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite. While much of the ice may have melted, the long-sought Northwest Passage may remain difficult to navigate. [NASA Earth Observatory] An image made the previous week from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows a larger polar perspective. [NASA Earth Observatory]
A saltier North Atlantic could affect ocean currents -- A researcher at the National Oceanographic Data Center and colleagues have analyzed salinity data collected across the North Atlantic for the last half century and have determined that the upper ocean water in that basin is becoming saltier. They conclude that the increased salinity is the result of climate change involving warmer surface waters and increased evaporation and they argue that these increases could have a short-term stabilizing effect on global ocean currents. [New Scientist]
Probing the "red tide" -- A team of chemists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have synthesized the chemicals that appear to be the lethal components of "red tide" toxin, a toxic algal bloom that often affects coastal waters, closing shellfish beds and beaches. [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.

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: Touring the DataStreme Ocean website

NOTE: This Concept for the Week is a repeat of that which appeared in last week's Weekly Ocean News.

Welcome to DataStreme Ocean! You are embarking on a study of the world ocean and the role of the ocean in the Earth system. This unique teacher enhancement course focuses on the flow and transformations of energy and water into and out of the ocean, the internal properties and circulation of the ocean, interactions between the ocean and the other components of the Earth system, and the human/societal impacts on and responses to those interactions. Throughout this learning experience, you will be using the DataStreme Ocean website to access and interpret a variety of environmental information, including recent observational data. The objective of this initial Concept of the Week is to explore features of the DS Ocean website.

On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Ocean News that includes Ocean in the News (a summary listing of recent events related to the ocean), Concept of the Week(an in-depth analysis of some topic related to the ocean in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a chronology of past events such as tsunamis or specific advances in the understanding of oceanography). When appropriate, Supplemental Information will be provided on some topic related to the principal ocean theme of the week.

You will use the DS Ocean website to access and download the second part of weekly Investigations "Current Ocean Studies" (plus supporting images) that begin in your Online Ocean Studies Investigations Manual. These materials should be available by noon (Eastern Time) on Tuesday and Thursday. Click the appropriate links to download and print these electronic components of the investigations as well as your Chapter Progress and Investigations Response forms.

The body of the DS Ocean website provides links to the Earth System, information on Physical & Chemical, Geological, and Biological aspects of the ocean, Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, the Great Lakes, and extras–a glossary of terms, maps, educational links, and DataStreme Ocean information. Following each section is a link to other sites that examine the various subsystems of the Earth system. Let's take a quick tour to become more familiar with the DS Ocean website.

Under Physical & Chemical, click on Sea Surface Temperatures. This image uses a color scale to depict the global pattern of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) (in degrees Celsius) averaged over a recent 7-day period and based on measurements by infrared sensors onboard Earth-orbiting satellites. (Depending on your browser, you may have to place your mouse cursor on the slide bar to the right and scroll down to view the entire image.) Compare SSTs in the Northern Hemisphere with those in the Southern Hemisphere. Return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Geological, click on Current Earthquake Activity. The USGS Current World Seismicity page provides a global map of the locations of seismic (earthquake) events color-coded for the past seven days. The size of the squares represents the magnitude of an earthquake. Note how earthquakes are concentrated along the margin of the Pacific Ocean. Details of recent earthquakes can be found by clicking on their map squares. Return to the DS Ocean website.

The ocean is home to a wide variety of habitats and organisms. Under Biological, click on Ocean "Color" (Productivity). This is a satellite-derived (SeaWiFS) color-coded map of biological productivity in the surface waters of the world ocean averaged from the year 1978 to date. Orange and red indicates the highest productivity and dark blue and violet indicate the lowest productivity. Note the vast areas of relatively low productivity over the central regions of the subtropical ocean basins. Individual months within this period may be chosen for viewing. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, click on TRMM Tropical Rainfall. The TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) page includes color-coded maps of the Monthly Mean Rainrate (in mm per day) across the tropics for the last 30 days ending on the present date. Changes in rainfall are linked to large-scale shifts in the atmosphere/ocean circulation in the tropics. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Take a few minutes when you have time to browse the other data and information sources available via the DS Ocean website. You should "bookmark" ("favorites") this page on your computer. Return frequently to learn more about the many resources on the ocean in the Earth system. Bon voyage!

Concept of the Week: Questions

The latest global sea surface temperature map indicates that SSTs are generally higher over the [(western)(eastern)] tropical Pacific Ocean.
The USGS map of Current Earthquake Activity indicates that earthquakes appear to be more common along the [(east)(west)] coast of North America.

Historical Events

3 September 1821...A hurricane made landfall at Long Island, near the current J.F. Kennedy Airport and then moved through western Connecticut. The hurricane produced a record high tide at New York City. (David Ludlum)
4 September 1954...Icebreakers, USS Burton Island (AGB-1) and USCG Northwind, completed first transit of the Northwest Passage through McClure Strait. (Naval Historical Center)
4-6 September 1970...Moisture from Pacific Tropical Storm Norma led to heavy rain and severe flooding over a three-day span. Unprecedented rains caused rivers in central Arizona to rise five to ten feet per hour, sweeping cars and buildings as far as 30 to 40 mi downstream, leading to the greatest natural disaster of record for Arizona. Flooding claimed the lives of 23 persons, mainly campers, and caused millions of dollars in property damage. Water crested 36 feet above normal near Sunflower. Workman's Creek was deluged with 11.40 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a 24-hour precipitation record for the Grand Canyon State. An estimated six inches of rain fell at Bug Point, UT, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Beehive State. (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
5 September 1987...A tropical storm, which formed off the South Atlantic coast, was responsible for torrential rains over coastal regions of South Carolina. Between 30 August and 8 September, Charleston, SC received 18.44 in. of rain. The heavy rains caused extensive flooding around the city of Charleston, seriously damaged cotton crops in the eastern part of the state, and resulted in an unusually high number of mosquitoes. (Storm Data)
5 September 1946...The U.S. Air-Rescue Agency, an inter-departmental group headed by the Commandant of the Coast Guard and engaged on the study of improved and standardized rescue and search methods, was renamed the Search and Rescue Agency. "Search and Rescue Units" of the Coast Guard were at the same time integrated into the peace time organization and the whole developed into a system of constantly alerted communications, coastal lookout, and patrols of institute instant and systematic search and rescue procedure in case of disasters." (USCG Historian's Office)
5 September 1950...Hurricane Easy produced the greatest 24-hour rainfall in U.S. weather records up to that time. The hurricane deluged Yankeetown, on the upper west coast of Florida, with 38.70 in. of rain. This record has since been replaced by 43 in. of rain at Alvin, TX on 25-26 July 1979. (David Ludlum)
6 September 1522...The Magellan expedition completed its historical circumnavigation of the globe as one of Ferdinand Magellan's five ships, the Vittoria, arrived at Sanlýcar de Barrameda in Spain with 17 other crewmembers and four Indians. Magellan, who lost his life in April 1521 in the Philippines, set sail from Spain with 270 seamen on 20 September 1519 in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. (The History Channel)
7 September 1934...US Coast Guard (USCG) vessels responded to a fire aboard the liner Morro Castle six miles off the New Jersey coast. This disaster, which resulted in the loss of 133 of the 455 passengers and crew, led to a Senate investigation and subsequent changes in maritime safety regulations. (USCG Historian's Office)
8 September 1900...The greatest weather disaster in U.S. records occurred when a hurricane struck Galveston, TX. Waves fifteen feet high washed over the island demolishing or carrying away buildings, and drowning more than 6000 persons. The hurricane destroyed more than 3600 houses, and total damage was more than $30 million. Winds to 120 mph, and a twenty-foot storm surge accompanied the hurricane. Following the storm, the surf was three hundred feet inland from the former water line. The hurricane claimed another 1200 lives outside of the Galveston area. (8^th-9^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
Editor's note: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted a webpage commemorating the Galveston, TX hurricane of 1900. This page contains links to historic photos and excerpts of an eyewitness description of storm by Isaac Cline, the chief forecaster of the Galveston U.S. Weather Bureau Office.
9 September 1945 - A "computer bug" is first identified and named by LT Grace Murray Hopper while she was on Navy active duty in 1945. It was found in the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator at Harvard University. The operators affixed the moth to the computer log, where it still resides, with the entry: "First actual case of bug being found." They "debugged" the computer, first introducing the term. (Naval History Center)