Weekly Ocean News

WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

WEEK FOUR: 22-26 September 2008

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics --- Following an active week in across the tropical North Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans, this past week was relatively quiet. However, attention turned westward:
- In the western North Pacific Typhoon Sinlaku, which had formed two weeks ago over the Philippine Sea east of Luzon and became a supertyphoon (category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale), weakened to a category 1 typhoon as it approached the coast of east central China and then turned toward the northeast. While weakening to a tropical storm as it passed just to the south of the Japanese Archipelago, where strong gusty winds and torrential rain were reported. As of Sunday, the tropical storm was moving eastward away from Japan. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery concerning Typhoon Sinlaku.
  Tropical Storm Hagupit formed last week over the western North Pacific near the Northern Mariannas and initially traveled to the west-southwest across the Philippine Sea toward the Philippines before curving to the northwest. By Sunday, this tropical storm was ready to pass to the north of Luzon and could possibly intensify to the tenth typhoon of the 2008 calendar year in the western North Pacific.
- In the North Indian Ocean basin, Tropical Cyclone 2 formed early last week over the Bay of Bengal just offshore of Baleshwar in northeast India. In less than one day, the nearly formed system with minimal tropical storm intensity made landfall along the Indian coast.
In the aftermath of Ike -- Attention continued to be focused upon the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Ike, a powerful category 2 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson scale) that made landfall near Galveston, TX more than a week ago:
- Various groups within NOAA are assisting in recovery and cleanup efforts, including NOAA’s Navigational Response Teams, NOAA HAZMAT teams and the National Weather Service, have been working alongside other federal, state and local agencies. [NOAA News]
- The US Commerce Secretary recently declared formally that a fishery disaster for the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, thereby making small fishing businesses eligible for certain federally-financed loans in an effort to assist the economic recovery along the Gulf Coast devastated by these recent hurricanes. [NOAA News]
- NOAA's National Geodetic Survey has posted a variety of Emergency Response Imagery on its Hurricane Ike Images page.
- Several pictures taken by NOAA and US Geological Survey personnel from aircraft shows the devastation left by Hurricane Ike left on the Bolivar Peninsula east of Galveston. [NASA Earth Observatory] [NASA Earth Observatory]
- Editor's note: The NASA Hurricane Page has been updated late last week with additional satellite images and information on Hurricane Ike. EJH
Inspecting winds inside Ike's eye -- The Doppler on Wheels (DOW) mobile weather radar operated by the Center for Severe Weather Research, deployed to Galveston, TX before Hurricane Ike made landfall, was able to collect high-resolution radar data from the ground within the inside of the hurricane's eye as it passed nearly directly over the unit. [EurekAlert!]
Report made on health of a Washington State marine sanctuary -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has recently released a report on the health of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, which is located in the coastal waters around Washington State's Olympic Peninsula, indicates that while the overall condition of the sanctuary’s marine life and habitats can be rated "fair to good," several emerging threats to the sanctuary's health can be foreseen. [NOAA News]
Gulf fishery resource discovery declared -- The US Commerce Secretary recently declared formally that a fishery disaster for the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, thereby making small fishing businesses eligible for certain federally-financed loans in an effort to assist the economic recovery along the Gulf Coast devastated by these recent hurricanes. [NOAA News]
Disaster aid released to West Coast salmon fishing industry -- Last week, the NOAA’s Fisheries Service announced that $100 million of disaster-relief aid was being made available through the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to West Coast salmon fishermen because of this year's closure of the ocean salmon fishing season along the coast from California north to Washington State. [NOAA News]
Tsunami warning test to conducted -- This upcoming Wednesday morning, NOAA’s National Weather Service will conduct a limited communications test of the tsunami warning system in the coastal areas of California, Oregon, and Washington, including a test tsunami warning message broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards. [NOAA News]
Global review of August and boreal summer season --Basing their analysis on preliminary data, scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center recently reported that the combined global surface temperature taken over land and oceans during the three months of June through August 2008, which corresponds to meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere was the ninth highest since a sufficiently dense weather-climate observing network became available in 1880. The global ocean surface was also the ninth warmest for those three months. The month of August 2008 also was tied for the tenth highest combined ocean and land surface temperature. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center also noted that the neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions in August should continue through the end of the calendar year. [NOAA News]
Arctic sea ice reaches summer minimum -- Researchers at National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder claim that their analysis of data from NASA satellites indicates that the extent of the sea ice coverage on the Arctic Ocean appears to have reached the summer minimum recently, which also happens to the second-lowest amount recorded since satellite surveillance commenced in 1979. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Worsening marine debris foreseen -- A congressionally mandated report prepared by the National Research Council indicates that marine debris could likely worsen because current measures deigned to prevent and reduce the debris into the marine environment are inadequate. [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.

THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX -- The Autumnal Equinox will occur this Monday morning (officially at 1544Z, 22 September 2008 or 11:44 AM EDT or 10:44 AM CDT, etc.). At that time the noontime sun will appear directly above the equator, representing one of the two times during the year for such an occurrence, with the other being at the vernal equinox in March. The term "equinox" arises from the fact that this time of year represents "equal night" and equal day essentially everywhere. Within the subsequent several days, the length of daylight will become noticeably shorter. This decrease in daylight will continue for another three months to the winter solstice early Sunday, 21 December 2008.

Concept of the Week: Variations in Marine Sediment Thickness

Sediments are particles of organic or inorganic origin that accumulate in loose form in depositional environments such as lake or ocean bottoms. Marine sediments, the central focus of this week's investigations, have a variety of sources and exhibit a wide range of composition, size, and shape. Marine sediments settle to the ocean floor as unconsolidated accumulations but ultimately may be converted to solid sedimentary rock via compaction and cementation. The pattern of variations in marine sediment thickness on the ocean floor confirms some basic understandings regarding marine geological processes.

Go to the DataStreme Ocean Website and under "Geological," click on "Sediment Thickness." This map of marine sediment thickness in the ocean basins was compiled by the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Marine Geology and Geophysics Division primarily based on existing maps, ocean drilling, and seismic reflection profiles. Sediment thickness is color-coded in meters from violet (thinnest) to red (thickest). Many factors account for the variation in the thickness of marine sediment deposits including type and location of sediment sources, sediment transport mechanisms, and the age of the underlying crust.

According to the map, sediment thickness generally increases with distance from near the central portion of an ocean basin to the continental margin. This pattern may be explained by the principal sediment source and/or the age of the underlying crust. Rivers and streams that empty into the ocean slow and diverge, releasing the bulk of their suspended sediment load in coastal environments (e.g., bays, estuaries, deltas) and onto the continental shelf. Ocean currents transport sediment along the coast. In some areas of the continental shelf, massive amounts of sediment accumulate, become unstable, and flow down the continental slope to the base of the continental rise and beyond. However, only the finer fraction of river-borne sediment is swept into the deep ocean waters. Thickening of marine sediments in the direction of the continental margin may also reflect the aging of oceanic crust with distance away from divergent (spreading) plate boundaries where new oceanic crust forms. The older the crust the longer is the period that sediment rains down on the ocean bottom and the thicker is the blanket of accumulated sediment.

The map indicates that the thickness of marine sediment deposits is greater in the continental margin along the Atlantic coast of North America than along the Pacific coast. The Atlantic coast of North America is a passive margin; that is, the continental margin is not affected significantly by tectonic processes (no plate boundary) and the principal geological processes consist of sedimentation along with erosion by ocean waves and currents. In fact, passive margins and relatively thick marine sediment deposits occur on both sides of the Atlantic. (Passive margins also occur around the Arctic Ocean and surrounding Antarctica.) On the other hand, the Pacific coast of North America is an active margin; that is, the continental margin is associated with plate boundaries and is subject to deformation by tectonic stresses. Active continental margins are relatively narrow so that sediment delivered to the coast by rivers and streams flows directly into deeper water or trenches—preventing thick accumulations of marine sediments from building in the continental margin.

Concept of the Week: Questions

The thickness of marine sediment deposits is greater in the [(continental margins)(deep-ocean basins)].
The thickness of marine sediment deposits generally is greater in [(active)(passive)] continental margins.

Historical Events

22-23 September 1998...Hurricane Georges raked Hispaniola leaving over 580 dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, due mainly to flash flooding and subsequent mud slides in high terrain regions. Damage estimates from the storm exceeded $1 billion (US). (The Weather Doctor)
23 September 1551...The Grand Harbour at Valetta, Malta was hit by a waterspout that then moved inland and caused extensive damage. A shipping armada in the harbor about to go into battle was destroyed by the waterspout killing at least 600 people. (The Weather Doctor)
23 September 1815...One of the most powerful hurricanes to strike New England made landfall initially on Long Island, NY and then again at Old Saybrook, CT before crossing into Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Extensive structural damage resulted. Providence, RI was flooded and six people were killed. This "Great September Gale" was the worst tempest in nearly 200 years, equal in strength to the Great 1938 Hurricane, and one of a series of severe summer and autumn storms to affect shipping lanes that year. (David Ludlum)
24 September 1493...Christopher Columbus set sail with 17 ships on his second expedition to the New World, reaching the Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola before returning to Europe in March 1496. (Wikipedia)
25 September 1513...Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a Spanish conquistador-explorer, crossed the isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean, which he christened Mar del Sur (South Sea), claiming the ocean and all adjacent lands for Spain. (Wikipedia)
25 September 1939...A West Coast hurricane moved onshore south of Los Angeles bringing unprecedented rains along the southern coast of California. Nearly 5.5 in. of rain drenched Los Angeles during a 24-hr period. The hurricane caused $2 million in damage, mostly to structures along the coast and to crops, and claimed 45 lives at sea. "El Cordonazo" produced 5.66 in. of rain at Los Angeles and 11.6 in. of rain at Mount Wilson, both records for the month of September. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
25 September 1956...The world's first transatlantic telephone cable system began operating (Clarenville, Newfoundland to Oban, Scotland). Previous cables had been limited to telegraph transmissions. (Today in Science History)
26 September 1580...English seaman Francis Drake returned to Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind, becoming the first British navigator to circumnavigate the globe. He had commenced his voyage around the world on 13 December 1577 with five ships, but returned with only one ship. During his voyage in the Pacific Ocean, he paused near San Francisco Bay and then traveled as far north as present-day Washington State. He brought back valuable information about the world's ocean to Queen Elizabeth I. (The History Channel)
26-27 September 1959...Typhoon Vera ravaged Honshu, Japan, the nation's largest island, leaving over 5000 dead, more than 40,000 injured, 1.5 million homeless and 40,000 homes destroyed. It was Japan's greatest storm disaster. (The Weather Doctor)
27 September 1854...After colliding with the French ship SS Vesta in dense fog, the American Collins Line steamship Arctic sank with more than 300 people on board near Cape Race, Newfoundland, marking the first great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean. (Wikipedia)
27 September 1922...Report on observations of experiments with short wave radio at the Naval Aircraft Radio Laboratory in Anacostia, DC started US Navy development of radar. (Navy Historical Center)
27 September 1958...A typhoon caused the death of nearly 5000 people on Honshu, the main Japanese island. (Wikipedia)
28 September 1542...Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into present-day San Diego (CA) Bay during the course of his explorations of the northwest shores of Mexico on behalf of Spain. His landing at Point Loma Head apparently was the first known European encounter with California. Before dying on the Channel Islands off the Santa Barbara coast in January 1543, he had explored much of the California coast. (The History Channel)
28 September 1850...An Act of Congress (9 Stat. L., 500, 504) provided for the systematic coloring and numbering of all buoys for, prior to this time, they had been painted red, white, or black, without any special system. The act "prescribed that buoys should be colored and numbered so that in entering from seaward red buoys with even numbers should be on the starboard or right hand side; black buoys with odd numbers on the port or left hand side; buoys with red and black horizontal stripes should indicate shoals with channel on either side; and buoys in channel ways should be colored with black and white perpendicular stripes." (US Coast Guard Historians Office)