Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK TWO: 28 January-1 February 2013

Items of Interest

• Participate in second campaign of Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2013 -- The second in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2013 will begin next Thursday (31 January) and continue into the following week, running through 9 February. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation (Orion or Leo in the northern hemisphere, and Orion and Crux in the southern hemisphere) with seven star charts of progressively fainter stars. In addition to the previously held 3-12 January 2013 campaign, the three additional GLOBE at Night campaigns will be in 2013: 3-12 March; 31 March-9 April and 29 April-8 May. Check the GLOBE at Night website for additional information on this week's activities plus a Teacher Information Page and activity packet.
• Remote sensing of the oceans by satellites -- Please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth for a description of how oceanographers have employed orbiting satellites as observation platforms to make remote observations of the world's oceans.

Ocean in the News

• Eye on the tropics --- During the last week, the tropical South Indian Ocean and the western South Pacific Ocean were the only regions where organized tropical cyclone (low pressure systems such as tropical storms and hurricanes that form over tropical oceans) activity was occurring:
• In the western South Pacific, a tropical storm formed at the start of last week several hundred miles to the west-northwest of Pago Pago in America Samoa. Eventually, this system intensified to become a category 2 tropical cyclone (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) that was identified as Cyclone Garry, the tenth tropical cyclone in the South Pacific during the current tropical cyclone season for that basin. During last week, the tropical storm traveled generally eastward passing American Samoa and then toward the southeast as it intensified to Cyclone Garry. As of this past weekend, Cyclone Garry was weakening as it continued across the waters of the western South Pacific. Additional information and satellite imagery can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page for Cyclone Garry.
  Another tropical storm developed in the South Pacific Basin early last week over the waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria off northern Australia. This minimal tropical storm, identified as Tropical Storm Oswald, was relatively short-lived as it made landfall along the southwestern coast of the Cape York Peninsula of Queenstown Australia. While Oswald was quickly downgraded to a post tropical cyclone, the remnant low continued to bring wet weather across Queenstown Australia through the remainder of last week. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite imagery and additional information on Tropical Storm Oswald.
• In the South Indian Ocean basin, a tropical depression formed over the waters off the coast of northwestern West Australia near Port Hedland early last week. Identified as Tropical Storm Peta, traveled southward and made landfall along the coast of Australia near Learmonth, Australia within 24 hours after initial formation. Additional information and satellite imagery for Tropical Storm Peta is found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
  A tropical storm, initially identified as Tropical Storm 13S, formed in the western South Indian Ocean to the northeast of La Reunion over this past weekend. This minimal tropical storm was traveling to the west toward Madagascar on Sunday (local time).
• "Marine snow" is described -- Fine grain decaying material drifting downward through ocean waters that is known as "marine snow" because of its white fluffy appearance is described in terms of its appearance and importance to the deep-sea ecosystem. [NOAA National Ocean Service]
• Describing how purple and pink sunscreens work for reef corals -- From work on the Great Barrier Reef and a controlled laboratory environment, researchers at the United Kingdom's University of Southampton have found a mechanism they believe corals use for protection from harmful sunlight that involves chromoproteins which give the coral their pink and purple hues. [University of Southampton News]
• When one endangered marine species feasts on another -- A marine mammal biologist with NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center and his colleagues have been monitoring the feeding habits of a pod the southern resident killer whales, an endangered population that resides for most of the summer in western Washington's Puget Sound. They have found that the killer whales prefer the large and fatty Chinook salmon that are also threatened, which means that the low populations of Chinook salmon appear to limit the growth in the killer whale population. [NOAA Fisheries Service]
• Europe's prime geosynchronous weather satellite gets a new partner -- During the last week, scientists and engineers at European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) have released the first operational image obtained from data collected by the agency's new Meteosat-10 satellite, which replaced Meteosat-9 as the prime geosynchronous satellite that provides operational weather and climate monitoring services over Europe, Africa and adjacent oceans. However, both satellites will continue to provide full disc coverage of this sector. Meteosat-10 satellite was launched last July. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab]
• Following "ship tracks" off West Coast from space -- A natural-color image recently obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite along with an animated sequence of images from NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-West) show "ship tracks" over the eastern North Pacific Ocean off the West Coast of North America. The ship tracks were thin, serpentine clouds that formed in the wake of ships traversing the eastern North Pacific from the ship exhausts. Tiny airborne particles, called aerosols, from the exhausts seeded the atmosphere and caused the condensation of water vapor into the observed clouds that formed the ship tracks. Presence of numerous ship tracks appear to have conflicting effects on climate, as the clouds and the carbon dioxide from the fossil fuel combustion by the ships would increase temperature, but numerous ship track clouds could form a cloud deck that would be highly reflective of sunlight, which would help reduce temperature. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• View of marine layer clouds off California coast as seen from space -- Two images made from sensors aboard the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite show an extensive low-lying marine layer clouds over the eastern North Pacific Ocean off the California coast. A lack of clouds was noticeable over the land surfaces of California and Nevada. One of the images was made in the "day-night band" by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which used reflected moonlight to detect the marine layer clouds and the light from such large metropolitan areas along the coast as San Francisco and Los Angeles to show relatively cloud-free skies. A corresponding infrared image shows the differences between low and high clouds based upon temperature considerations. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Greenland ice cores show last warm period may be good analog for current warming of planet -- An international team of scientists from 14 nations participating in the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) Project have recently released their analysis of deep ice cores from the Greenland ice sheet that extend back at least 130,000 years. Their results indicate that the temperature in north Greenland rose to about 14 Fahrenheit higher than today during the Eemian interglacial period (between 130,000 and 115,000 years ago) when sea levels were 15 to 25 feet higher than currently. The researchers claim that the climate during this last interglacial period could serve as a good analog for future conditions on Earth as greenhouse gases increase and temperatures continue to rise. [University of Colorado, Boulder] [Explore CSIRO]
• 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, drought, floods, 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, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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

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 NASA topographical images of Surtsey, go to http://denali.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/garvin/surtsey.html . These images were obtained using a scanning airborne laser altimeter.

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

• 30 January 1790...The Original, the first boat specialized as a lifeboat to rescue people from stormy seas was tested on the River Tyne. This 30-foot long self-righting craft went out to shipwrecks for 40 years, saving hundreds of lives. William Wouldhave and Lionel Lukin both claimed to be the inventor of the first lifeboat. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
• 30 January 1997...Surf up to 12 feet, with sets to 15 feet, pounded the north and west shores of Hawaii. A wave swept eight people into the ocean at Keane Point on Maui. Four tourists who were taking pictures of the waves drowned. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 1 February 1788...A patent for a steamboat was issued by the state of Georgia to Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet. The patent was the only one ever to be issued by Georgia, and first in the U.S. for a steamboat. Much development had to follow before the steamboat would be commercially viable. (Today in Science History)
• 1 February 1838...A U.S. patent (No. 588) was issued for the screw propeller to John Ericsson, (1803-89), a Swedish American engineer, who later designed and built the Monitor for the Union Navy in the War of the Rebellion. (Today in Science History)
• 1 February 1811...The Bell Rock Lighthouse was lit for the first time eleven miles off the east coast of Scotland. Using 24 lanterns, it began flashing its warning light atop a 100-foot white stone tower. As the oldest sea-washed lighthouse in existence, it was built by Robert Stevenson on a treacherous sandstone reef, which, except at low tides, lies submerged just beneath the waves. In the centuries before, the dangerous Bell Rock had claimed thousands of lives, as vessels were wrecked on its razor-sharp serrated rocks. (Today in Science History)
• 1 February 1953...An intense low-pressure system (966 millibars or 29.52 inches of mercury) swept across the North Sea. Wind speeds at Aberdeen, Scotland exceeded 125 mph. A storm surge of 13 feet, aided by a high spring tide, breached the dams in as many as 100 places along the Zuider Zee in The Netherlands, flooding 3.95 million acres or one-sixth of the country. More than 1800 deaths were attributed to drowning and 50,000 people were evacuated. In addition, this storm was responsible for the loss of 100,000 poultry, 25,00 pigs and 35,000 cattle. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 2-3 February 1952...The only tropical storm of record to hit the U.S. in February moved out of the Gulf of Mexico and across southern Florida on the 3rd; it also represents the earliest reported formation of a tropical storm on record in the Atlantic basin. The storm produced 60-mph winds, and two to four inches of rain. (2nd-3rd) (The Weather Channel)
• 2 February 1976...Groundhog Day Storm, one of the fiercest Maritimes storms ever battered the Bay of Fundy region around Saint John, New Brunswick with winds clocked at 118 mph, generating 39 foot waves with swells of 32.5 feet. (The Weather Doctor)
• 3 February 1488...The Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Diaz landed at Mossal Bay, Cape of Good Hope, the first European known to have landed on the southern extremity of Africa. He was also the first known European to have traveled this far south and round the Cape. (Wikipedia)
• 3 February 1880...Date of a terrific gale on the New Jersey coast. Six vessels came ashore with 47 persons on board--all but two survived. Nineteen USLSS crewmen won Gold Life-Saving Medals during the wreck of the George Taulane. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 3 February 1943...The torpedoing of the transport Dorchester saw USCGC Comanche and Escanaba respond. The crew of the Escanaba used a new rescue technique when pulling survivors from the water. This "retriever" technique used swimmers clad in wet suits to swim to victims in the water and secure a line to them so they could be hauled onto the ship. Although Escanaba saved 133 men (one died later) and Comanche saved 97, over 600 men were lost, including the Four Chaplains. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 3 February 1953...The French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau published his most famous and lasting work, The Silent World, which was made into a film three years later. (The History Channel)

Return to DataStreme Ocean Website
Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2012, The American Meteorological Society.