DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK NINE: 28 March-1 April 2005

• Tsunami program on NOVA -- The science television program NOVA will air the program "Wave that Shook the World" on Public Broadcasting System (PBS) stations on Tuesday, 29 March 2005. This program focuses upon the efforts by experts at reconstructing the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in an effort to prepare for future tsunamis. A website is available that has links to a variety of additional tsunami information, including a Teacher's Guide to the program. Since local broadcast times may vary, please consult your local television listings. [NOVA PBS]
• Tsunami Awareness Week in Alaska -- The Governor of Alaska, along with NOAA, has proclaimed next week (27 March-2 April 2005) as Tsunami Awareness Week in Alaska. This start of this week coincides with the 41^st anniversary of the series of devastating tsunamis that struck southeastern Alaska following several earthquakes. [Governor's Office] As a part of Tsunami Awareness Week, the first statewide test of the tsunami warning communications system in Alaska. [NOAA News]
• New partnerships formed for the next GOES -- NOAA officials announced a new strategy for the upcoming GOES-R mission that will involve a partnership with NASA. The next GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) will have improved instruments and technologies to monitor the planetary environment as part of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems that will help weather and ocean forecasts. [NOAA News]
• Nature blamed for more tropical activity--Hurricane expert, Professor William Gray of Colorado State University, recently said that nature rather than humans was to blame for the increased hurricane activity that could last for several more decades. He attributes this increased activity to the global ocean conveyor belt circulation. [USA Today]
• Lake invaders hitch rides on ships -- Two environmental groups warned that stricter controls should be implemented on the discharge of ballast water by oceangoing ships that ply the Great Lakes, since these ships often carry unwanted invaders such as zebra mussels, killer shrimp or monkey gobies. [ENN]
• Coral reefs threatened by tsunami silt -- Experts recently reported that the fragile coral reefs in the Indian Ocean sustained significant damage that will take years to overcome from the silt that was stirred by the killer tsunami in December 2004. [ENN]
• Sea treasures lost from maritime museum -- Thousands of artifacts that were being collected by marine archeologists for Sri Lanka's first maritime museum in the port of Galle were lost because of the tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean last December. [Khaleej Times]
• Deep-sea tremors may be an early warning system -- Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Southern California report from their study of undersea earthquakes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean that small foreshocks before a major earthquake could be used to predict subsequent main tremors. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
• Masters of disguise -- A team of researchers at the University of California, Berkley have observed and documented that two species of octopus employ various types of camouflage to avoid detection. [New Scientist]
• Ancient ships discovered -- A team from Boston University reported discovering the remains of ancient seafaring ships from caves on the coast of the Red Sea. [New Scientist]
• Gulf of Mexico not right for methane gas formation -- Researchers from Georgia Tech, Rice University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography report that marine sediments collected from the floor of the northern Gulf of Mexico indicate that the environment is too warm and salty to contain large amounts of methane gas hydrates, a potential energy source. [Georgia Tech Research News]
• West Antarctic Ice Sheet may have melted less -- Researchers from the University of Washington recently reported that their analysis of an ice core indicates that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may have been thinner than previously thought, resulting in a correspondingly smaller contribution to the rise in global sea levels over the last 20,000 years. [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.

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 183-185 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 was 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 forest, 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. Environmental Protection Agency (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

1. In terms of nutrient cycling, the climax forest that originally occupied the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin was a(n) [(open)(closed)] system.
2. 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.

• 28 March 1848...USS Supply reached the Bay of Acre, anchoring under Mount Carmel near the village of Haifa, during expedition to explore the Dead Sea and the River Jordan. (Naval Historical Center)
• 28 March 1910...Henri Fabre became the first person to fly a seaplane after taking off from a water runway at Martigues near Marseilles, France. (Wikipedia)
• 28 March 1964...A tsunami generated by an earthquake (which hit 9.2 on the Richter scale) in Prince William Sound, AK produced a major surge wave that was approximately 100 ft above low tide and caused major damage to Whittier (where 13 died) and other coastal communities in Alaska. The death toll from the earthquake and associated tsunami waves was at least 122, with 108 in Alaska. The earthquake and tsunami caused $311 million in property damage. The first wave took more than 5 hours to reach the Hawaiian Islands where a 10-foot wave was detected, while a wave that was 14.8 feet above high tide level traveled along portions of the West Coast, reaching northern California 4 hours after the earthquake. Nearly 10,000 people jammed beaches at San Francisco to view the possible tsunami, but no high-amplitude waves hit those beaches. (The University of Washington) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (US Coast Guard Historians Office)
• 29-31 March 1848...An ice dam at the neck of Lake Erie and the entrance to the Niagara River between Fort Erie, ON and Buffalo, NY caused by wind, waves and lake currents stopped flow of water over Niagara Falls for 30 hours, commencing during the late hours of the 29^th. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
• 29 March 1910...The world's largest oceanographic museum was opened in Monaco through the generosity of Prince Albert I of Monaco, a great oceanographer, statesman, and humanitarian. This museum, a part of the Oceanographic Institute, has a grandiose facade overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. (Today in Science History)
• 29 March 1914...The Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Ireland, which had departed Quebec the previous day for Liverpool, collided with the Norwegian collier Storstad in the fog along the St. Lawrence River, sinking with the loss of 1024 passengers and crew.
• 29 March 1985...The Nantucket I was decommissioned, ending 164 years of lightship service. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 30 March 1923...The Cunard liner Laconia arrived in New York City, becoming the first passenger ship to circumnavigate the world, a cruise of 130 days. (Today in Science)
• 31 March 1932...The United States signed the Whaling Convention at Geneva with 21 other countries. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 31 March 1995...Coast Guard Communication Area Master Station Atlantic sent a final message by Morse code and then signed off, officially ending more than 100 years of telegraph communications. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 31 March 2000...The water temperature of Lake Erie at Buffalo, NY was 39 degrees Fahrenheit on the last day of March, tying the maximum temperature for the date with that of 1998. Ice was present in 61 of 74 years on the 31^st, but this was third year in a row with open water. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 1 April 1873...The British White Star steamship Atlantic sank off Nova Scotia killing 547 after striking an underwater rock near Meagher's Island while on a voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City. Only 413 people survived. (Wikipedia)
• 1 April 1946...The Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Island in Alaska's Aleutian Islands was shaken by two earthquakes in a 27 minute span, then obliterated by a tsunami wave. The entire five-man crew was killed and the lighthouse antenna (105 ft above sea level) was washed away. Some debris was found 115 ft above sea level. The tsunami that propagated across the Pacific Ocean was responsible for more than 165 fatalities and over $26 million in damage. Many of the casualties were on the Hawaiian Islands, especially in Hilo on the Big Island. This tsunami was responsible for the development of the current Pacific Tsunami Warning System. (University of Washington) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (US Coast Guard Historian's Office)
• 2 April 1513...Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon came ashore on the Florida coast near present-day St. Augustine and claimed the territory for the Spanish crown. He is reported to be the first know European to set foot in Florida. (The History Channel)
• 2 April 1958...One of the most destructive coastal storms in years battered New England (31 March-3 April). Some beaches between Portland, ME and Cape Cod, MA were eroded by approximately 50 ft. Miles of sea walls and bulkheads were either breached or demolished. Many beachfront cottages in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine were sandblasted. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 2 April 1926....Baden-Baden, a rotor ship invented by Anton Flettner left Hamburg, Germany on a transatlantic crossing, arriving in New York on 29 May 1926. The ship used two 9-ft diameter, 50-ft high cylinders, mounted vertically on the deck at the bow and the stern for propulsion, utilizing the aerodynamic power of the Magnus Effect, which builds air pressure behind a rotating cylinder. (Today in Science History)
• 3 April 1797...Captain Thomas Truxtun, USN, devised and issued the first known American signal book using numerary system, encompassing 10 numeral pennants, made of combinations of red, white, blue, and yellow bunting, with flags for repeaters. This signal book contained approximately 300 signals. Fog signals were made by gunfire. Night signals were made by lanterns and gunfire. (Naval Historical Center)

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Prepared by AMS DSOcean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
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