Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK TWO: 10-14 September 2007

Ocean in the News

(Thurs.) Tropical Update -- On Wednesday an area of thunderstorms off the Texas coast became a tropical depression then storm and finally a minimal hurricane, Humberto. The center of Hurricane Humberto made landfall near High Island to the east of Galveston at 07Z (2:00 AM CDT) on Thursday, accompanied by maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, with higher gusts. Five to ten inches of rain and locally high waves and some storm surge accompanied the landfall. [CNN]
(Thurs.) Sumatra gets rocked -- On Wednesday two strong earthquakes, magnitudes 8.4 and 7.8, occurred offshore causing several known deaths and producing a minor 1-m tsunami. Extensive damage was reported to buildings. [BBC]
(Thurs.) Cleaning the Great Lakes could boost region's economy -- A recent analysis made by the Brookings Institution indicates that the proposed ecological restoration of the Great Lakes would generate at least $50 billion in economic gains through increased property values, tourism and recreation, which would represent twice the amount of money needed for cleanup. [US Water News Online]
(Thurs.) Ancient marine life studied -- A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been studying ancient marine fossils including brachiopods and bivalves at the time of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, one of the greatest mass extinction in the history of the world that occurred approximately 252 million years ago. She claims that this extinction occurred when too much atmospheric carbon dioxide made the ocean too toxic for the brachiopods, leaving the bivalves. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) A major decrease in Arctic sea ice foreseen during next half-century -- NOAA scientists from the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and NOAA's Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean claim that their research indicates that the sea-ice coverage of the Arctic Ocean could decrease in area by more than 40 percent by 2050 from the size for the 1979-1999 base period. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Tsunami threat remains in South Asia -- A researcher with Geoscience Australia in Canberra claims that based on his analysis of collected GPS data, the threat of a major tsunami-producing earthquake in the northern Bay of Bengal remains because the boundary between the Indian and Southeast Asian tectonic plates where such a earthquake could occur is farther offshore than previously thought. [New Scientist]
Eye on the tropics -- During the last week several tropical cyclones (low pressure systems that form over tropical or subtropical oceans) developed and moved across tropical waters:
- In the North Atlantic Basin, Hurricane Felix intensified to a major Category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale) as it moved across the western Caribbean, just before it made landfall along the coast of northeastern Nicaragua on Tuesday morning. As it moved across the mountainous terrain of Central America, it weakened to a tropical storm and then to a tropical depression by Wednesday. Torrential rain accompanying this system produced deadly floods and mudslides. By the end of the week, as many as 98 people had died. [USA Today] An image obtained from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite shows the large swirl of clouds surrounding Hurricane Felix roughly at the time when this Category-5 hurricane made landfall along the Central American coast. [NASA Earth Observatory ]
  A subtropical system developed well off the Georgia coast and intensified into Subtropical Storm Gabrielle late Friday night as it moved to the north-northwest toward the North Carolina coast. At midday Sunday, it made landfall along North Carolina's Outer Banks and then curved toward the northeast, moving out over the western Atlantic and away from the coast. (Editor's note: A subtropical storm forms over the subtropical ocean and has tropical characteristics of a warm center, similar to a hurricane, and extratropical characteristics associated with a transition between tropical and polar air masses. EJH) [USA Today]
- In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Henriette intensified to become the third hurricane of the 2007 eastern North Pacific hurricane season as it traveled to the northwest paralleling the Mexican coast, making an initial landfall briefly Tuesday afternoon near the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. The hurricane then continued moving to the north across the Gulf of California before making a second landfall along the western coast of mainland Mexico late Wednesday afternoon. Traveling northward across northwest Mexico it weakened to a tropical storm and then a tropical depression by Thursday morning. An image made from data collected by NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) shows the precipitation intensity (or rainfall rate) in the rain bands surrounding Hurricane Henriette as it was moving across the Gulf of California following its initial landfall and before its second landfall. [NASA Earth Observatory] A composite MODIS image made on Labor Day from two successive orbits of NASA's Aqua satellite shows the clouds surrounding both Hurricane Felix along the eastern coast of Central America and Hurricane Henriette near Baja California off the western coast of Central America. [NASA Earth Observatory]
- In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Fitow, which had formed more than one week ago near the Northern Marianna Islands moved initially northward, then curved to the west and finally to the north-northeast before making landfall on Japan's main island of Honshu last Friday, accompanied by torrential rain, strong winds and a storm surge. At least one fatality was reported. [USA Today] An image of the near surface winds of Typhoon Fitow made from data collected by the scatterometer on NASA's QuikSCAT satellite just as the typhoon made landfall on Honshu shows the characteristic counterclockwise inward flow surrounding the central eye. [NASA Earth Observatory] An image from the Japanese MTSAT satellite made several hours earlier shows the clouds surrounding the typhoon's eye. [NOAA OSEI]
An updated hurricane forecast -- Hurricane forecasters Phil Klotzbach and Professor William Gray of Colorado State University recently updated the seasonal forecast of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season that their team had made earlier. He foresees the formation of six more hurricanes, with three becoming major hurricanes by reaching an intensity of Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. [USA Today]
A La Niña event could be on the way -- Scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center recently announced that the anomalous large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation regime called La Niña appears to be developing, based upon their analysis of sea-surface temperatures and other indicators. One of the indicators of a La Niña event is the development of below-average sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific. Other anomalous weather events across the planet appear to be associated with La Niña events. [NOAA News]
Acid precipitation could have a major impact on coastal waters -- Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Hawaii, NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and the National Center for Atmospheric Research report that acidic precipitation caused by anthropogenic sulfur and nitrogen emissions appears to have a disproportionate impact upon coastal waters, affecting surface water acidity (pH), dissolved inorganic carbon and trends in the flux of carbon dioxide across the air-sea interface. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
Monitoring melting of Greenland's ice sheet -- An image produced by the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager onboard satellites from the Defense Meteorological Satellites Program shows that as many as 20 more days experienced melting conditions during the 2005 summer melt season than the average number of melt days since 1988, with much of the increased number of melt days occurring around the periphery of the ice sheet. [NASA Earth Observatory]
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

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Concept of the Week: The Birth of Surtsey, A Volcanic Island

In early November 1963, cod fishers plying the waters of the North Atlantic south of Iceland observed what appeared to be smoke or steam emanating from the distant ocean surface. They were witnessing the beginnings of a volcanic eruption that ultimately would give birth to a new island later named Surtsey after Surtur, the fire giant of Norse mythology. Surtsey is located at 63.4 degrees N, 20.3 degrees W or 33 km (20 mi) south of the coast of Iceland. Volcanic activity was nothing new to the fishers who lived on the nearby volcanic Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar). These islands as well as the main island of Iceland straddle the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary where hot molten lava wells up from the Earth's mantle, cools and solidifies into new oceanic crust.

Eruptions that produced Surtsey began on the ocean floor, some 130 m (427 ft) below sea level. The accumulating lava, cinders, and ash first emerged from the sea on 15 November 1963. Over the next 3.5 years, episodic eruptions built an island that eventually covered 2.5 square km (1 square mi) and attained a maximum elevation of 171 m (560 ft) above sea level. The initial eruptions were explosive as hot magma interacted with cold seawater producing dark jets of ash and steam that shot up to 200 m (656 ft) above two main volcanic vents. At this time, clouds of ash and steam rose into the atmosphere to altitudes perhaps as great as 10 km (6.2 mi). Subsequent eruptions were much more peaceful, consisting of quiescent flows of lava. When the eruptions ceased in early June 1967, a cubic kilometer of ash and lava had built up on the ocean floor with 9% of this volcanic material above sea level.

No volcanic activity has occurred on Surtsey since 1967 and geologists consider the volcanic island to be extinct with little risk of future eruptions. Nonetheless, Surtsey remains off limits to visitors except for scientists who obtain permission from the Icelandic government. The island offers scientists a unique opportunity to study not only the geology but also the establishment of plants and animals on the island, a process known as ecological succession. For example, by 1987, some 25 species of higher plants were growing on the initially barren island and 20 species of birds were nesting there.

Unless volcanic activity begins anew, the future is not bright for Surtsey. Some geologists predict that in a hundred years or so the island will be reduced to scattered stacks of rock. The island is composed of basaltic rock that is particularly vulnerable to weathering and erosion, ocean waves are eroding its shores, and the island is gradually sinking into the sea. Scientists reported a total subsidence of about 1.1 m (3.6 ft) between 1967 and 1991. Compaction of the volcanic material and the underlying sea-floor sediments are likely causes of the subsidence. For a NASA topographical image of Surtsey, go to http://denali.gsfc.nasa.gov/islands/surtsey/. This image was obtained using a scanning airborne laser altimeter.

Concept of the Week: Questions

1. The volcanism responsible for the formation of Surtsey was associated with a [(divergent)(convergent)]tectonic plate boundary.

2. At present on Surtsey, erosive forces [(are)(are not)]prevailing over volcanic activity.

Historical Events

10 September 1919...A hurricane struck the Florida Keys drowning more than 500 persons. (David Ludlum)
10 September 1965...Hurricane Betsy slammed Louisiana with wind gusting to 130 mph at Houma, resulting in 58 deaths and over 17,500 injured. The storm surge and flooding from torrential rains made Betsy the first billion-dollar hurricane with losses exceeding $1.4 billion.
11 September 1961...Very large and slow moving Hurricane Carla made landfall near Port Lavaca, TX. Carla battered the central Texas coast with wind gusts to 175 mph, and up to 16 inches of rain, and spawned a vicious tornado (F4 on the Fujita tornado intensity scale) which swept across Galveston Island killing eight persons and destroying 200 buildings. A storm surge of up to 18.5 feet inundated coastal areas and Bay City was deluged with 17.1 inches of rain. The hurricane claimed 45 lives, and caused $300 million in damage. The remnants of Carla produced heavy rain in the Lower Missouri Valley and southern sections of the Upper Great Lakes Region. (David Ludlum) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
11 September 1992...Hurricane Iniki, the third most damaging hurricane in US history, hit the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai and Oahu. Six people died as a result of the hurricane.
12 September 1775...The Independence Hurricane caught many fishing boats on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland killing 4000 seamen, most from Britain and Ireland. (The Weather Doctor)
12 September 1857...The S.S. Central America sank while in the midst of a hurricane off the North Carolina coast after beginning to take on water the previous day (11^th). Approximately 400 people onboard were lost, the greatest single loss from a commercial ship due to a hurricane. (Accord Weather Calendar)
12 September 1960...Hurricane Donna made landfall on central Long Island and then tracked across New England. Wind gusts reached 140 mph at the Blue Hills Observatory in Milton, MA and 130 mph at Block Island, RI. MacDowell Dam in New Hampshire recorded 7.25 inches of rain. Although a record tide of 6.1 feet occurred at the Battery in New York City, elsewhere fortunately the storm did not make landfall at the high tides so its effects were minimized. This was the first hurricane to affect every point along the East Coast from Key West, FL to Caribou, ME. (Intellicast)
12 September 1979...Hurricane Frederick smashed into the Mobile Bay area of Alabama packing 132-mph winds. Wind gusts to 145 mph were reported as the eye of the hurricane moved over Dauphin Island, AL, just west of Mobile. Frederick produced a fifteen-foot storm surge near the mouth of Mobile Bay. Winds gusted to hurricane force at Meridian, MS although the city is 140 miles inland. The hurricane was responsible for five fatalities and was the costliest in U.S. history to date causing $2.3 billion in damage. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
13-16 September 2004….Hurricane Ivan affected coastal Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle, with landfall near Gulf Shores, AL early on the 16th. Before breaking loose of its mooring, a buoy just south of the Alabama coastal waters reported a peak wave height of 52 feet on the 15th. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
14 September 1716...The Boston Light, the first lighthouse in America, was first lighted just before sunset. This light was located on Little Brewster Island to mark the entrance to Boston Harbor and guide ships past treacherous rocks. This original light was blown up by the British in 1776, rebuilt in 1783, and is currently the last staffed station in the U.S. (Today in Science History)
15 September 1752...A great hurricane produced a tide (storm surge )along the South Carolina coast that nearly inundated downtown Charleston. However, just before the surge reached the city, a shift in the wind caused the water level to drop five feet in ten minutes. (David Ludlum)
16 September 1928...Hurricane San Felipe, a monster hurricane, which left 600 dead in Guadeloupe and 300 dead in Puerto Rico, struck West Palm Beach, FL causing enormous damage, and then headed for Lake Okeechobee. Peak winds were near 150 mph. The high winds produced storm waves that breached the eastern dike on Lake Okeechobee, inundating flat farmland. When the storm was over, the lake covered an area the size of the state of Delaware, and beneath its waters were 1836 victims. The only survivors were those who reached large hotels for safety, and a group of fifty people who got onto a raft to take their chances out in the middle of the lake. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
16 September 1988...Hurricane Gilbert made landfall 120 miles south of Brownsville, TX in Mexico during the early evening. Winds gusted to 61 mph at Brownsville, and reached 82 mph at Padre Island. Six-foot tides eroded three to four feet of beach along the Lower Texas Coast, leaving the waterline seventy-five feet farther inland. Rainfall totals ranged up to 8.71 in. at Lamark, TX. Gilbert caused $3 million in property damage along the Lower Texas Coast, but less than a million dollars damage along the Middle Texas Coast. During its life span, Gilbert established an all-time record for the Western Hemisphere with a sea-level barometric pressure reading of 26.13 inches (888 millibars). Winds approached 200 mph, with higher gusts. Gilbert devastated Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (The Weather Channel)