Weekly Ocean News

Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK TEN: 1-5 April 2013

For Your Information

Hydrothermal vent organisms -- You are invited to read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth that describes how geoscientists have investigated the deep-sea environment in the vicinity of hydrothermal vents that form along the oceanic ridges nearly 3000 meters below the ocean surface. Interestingly, a diverse and abundant community of marine organisms has been found to live in these extreme oceanic conditions.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics --- No organized tropical cyclones were detected across the tropical ocean basins of either Northern or Southern Hemispheres last week.
Coastal communities urged to become TsunamiReady® -- During last week's observance of National Tsunami Preparedness Week (24-30 March 2013), NOAA officials urged coastal communities to become TsunamiReady®, as well as encouraging coastal residents and visitors to prepare for a tsunami. This program involves developing a tsunami safety plan and communications infrastructure, installing tsunami hazard zones and evacuation signs, as well as actively promoting tsunami safety through public awareness activities and training. [NOAA News]
Increases in coastal population during this decade seen to put more people at risk -- Last week NOAA released a report entitled "The National Coastal Population Report: Populations Trends from 1970 to 2020" that included input from the US Census Bureau and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report notes that approximately 39 percent of the US population is concentrated those counties directly on the shoreline as of 2010 that comprise of less than ten percent of the area of the coterminous US. In addition, 52 percent of the total population lives in counties that drain to coastal watersheds, which are defined as areas in which water, sediments, and dissolved material drain to a common coastal outlet. Furthermore, the report warns that if current population trends continue, the coastal counties would experience an eight percent increase by 2020, with nearly 134 million people placed increased risk from extreme coastal storms such as Sandy and Isaac. [NOAA News]
Moderate spring and summer "red tide" foreseen for Gulf of Maine --Scientists with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution predict that a "moderate" harmful algal bloom or "red tide" could occur in the Gulf of Maine during this spring and summer, leading to the possible closure of some New England shellfish harvesting beds to prevent possible illness to consumers who might eat contaminated food. [NOAA News]
"National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy" unveiled to help safeguard nation's natural resources -- During the last week, the Obama Administration released a plan called "National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy" that represents the first nationwide strategy designed to help public and private decision makers address the impacts that climate change are having on natural resources and upon the public and economic ventures that depend on them. This document was developed by the US Department of Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in response to a request by Congress. Seven key steps were identified to help safeguard the nation's fish, wildlife and plants in a changing climate. [NOAA News]
Arctic sea ice reaches a winter maximum -- Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that their analysis of satellite data has indicated sea ice on the Arctic Ocean reaching its maximum seasonal extent on 15 March 2013. Soon thereafter, the ice cover began to contract and should continue to shrink to a minimum extent in September. The date of this year's maximum ice extent occurred five days later than the average date of 10 March as ascertained from the 1979-2000 interval. This year's maximum areal extent was the sixth lowest in the satellite record. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
Tracking nitrogen dioxide over land and sea from space -- Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have produced several images made from data collected by the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) onboard a NASA's Aura satellite that reveal concentrations of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) over the Indian Ocean and South Asia. Tracks of NO₂ can be seen over the shipping lanes in the northern Indian Ocean, while larger concentrations of NO₂ can be found across highly populated areas of South Asia. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Majority of public supports stronger coastal development codes -- A new survey commissioned by Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Ocean Solution has found that a majority of Americans (62 percent) expressed support for stronger coastal development codes designed to minimize the impact of future extreme weather disasters with storms similar to Superstorm Sandy and rising sea levels. A majority of those surveyed also wanted the people whose properties and businesses located in hazard areas to foot the bill for this preparation, not the government. A significant majority of the survey's respondents (82 percent) believe that Earth's temperature has been rising during the last century. [Stanford News Service]
Antarctic Peninsula experiencing a longer summer melt season -- Using data collected from 30 weather stations on the Antarctic Peninsula, Researchers with the British Antarctic Survey have determined that the summer melt season has increased over the last 60 years. Temperatures on the Peninsula have increased by nearly three Celsius degrees in this span, three times the global average. The rapid break-up of ice shelves in the area and rising sea level have been linked to this increased summer melt. [British Antarctic Survey]
A "lubricant" discovered for Earth's tectonic plates -- Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography who participated in an expedition off the coast of Nicaragua discovered a magma layer of liquefied molten rock in Earth's mantle at the Middle America trench that may serve as a "lubricant" for the sliding motions of the planet's massive tectonic plates. The scientists claim that their discovery may carry far-reaching implications, from solving basic geological functions of the planet to a better understanding of volcanism and earthquakes. [University of California, San Diego News Center]
Earth may be close to inner edge of Sun's "habitable zone" -- According to planetary scientists from the US and France, planet Earth appears to be closed to the inner edge of the Sun's so-called "habitable zone" than previously thought. This habitable zone is a region surrounding the Sun in which an orbiting planet could have temperatures that would permit sufficient amounts of liquid water to exist at its surface to support the development of life and sustain it. The researchers warn that if Earth were closer in terms of the habitable zone, a "moist greenhouse" climate could result that would cause further drastic changes to the atmosphere. [Institute of Physics]
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.

Concept of the Week: Solving the Mystery of Seamount Ecosystems

The United States Commission on Ocean Policy reports that less than 5% of the ocean floor has been explored. This is beginning to change as scientists and engineers develop and apply new technologies to investigate deep ocean waters and the sea bottom (refer to Chapter 13 in your DataStreme Ocean textbook). Consider, for example, the effort to obtain a better understanding of seamount ecosystems.

A seamount is a submarine mountain of volcanic origin (now extinct) that rises more than 1000 m (3300 ft) above the ocean floor. Usually a seamount summit is 1000 to 2000 m (3300 to 6600 ft) below sea level. They occur as isolated peaks, chains (e.g., Emperor Seamounts in the North Pacific; New England chain in the North Atlantic), or clusters. The term "seamount" was first applied in 1936 to the Davidson Seamount located off the coast of Southern California. Scientists estimate that perhaps 30,000 dot the ocean floor with as many as two-thirds located on the Pacific Ocean bottom. However, fewer than one thousand seamounts have been named and only a handful of seamounts has received detailed scientific study.

In recent years, discovery of unique life forms on seamounts has spurred scientific interest in seamount ecosystems. Many nations, including the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, are supporting scientific cruises to observe and collect specimens from seamount ecosystems. Seamount ecosystems are unusually productive and are home to unique species. Some seamount surveys have found that certain seamount species are endemic, that is, they live on only one seamount or a few nearby peaks. For example, up to one-third of all species living on some seamounts off New Caledonia are endemic while up to half of the invertebrates and fish on the Nazca seamount off Chile are endemic. In the northeast Pacific, large-scale eddies may transport larval fish from coastal environments to isolated seamounts located out at sea. Furthermore, some scientists argue that seamounts may function as stepping stones that allow for migration of species over lengthy periods--perhaps over millions of years. In addition, some seamounts may serve as aids to navigation for fish that migrate over long distances. For example, hammerhead sharks may use the magnetic field surrounding seamounts to find their way.

The recent effort to survey and explore seamount ecosystems has reached new urgency with the realization of the devastating impact of commercial fish trawlers on those ecosystems. In some cases, trawling has striped off most marine life (e.g., coral gardens) from the surface of seamounts leaving behind mostly bare rock. Typically, trawled seamounts have only half the biomass and considerably fewer species than undisturbed seamounts. Scientists anticipate that a better understanding of seamount ecosystems will help make the case for their conservation and inform the most effective strategies for their protection. Australia is one of the first nations to protect seamount ecosystems, establishing the Tasmanian Seamount Marine Reserve in 1999. The reserve covers 370 square km (140 square mi) and includes more than a dozen seamounts.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Seamounts are extinct submarine volcanoes that occur primarily in the [(Atlantic) (Pacific)(Southern)] Ocean.
Commercial fish trawling has [(little if any)(a devastating)] impact on seamount ecosystems.

Historical Events:

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 known 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)
4 April 1581...The famous English navigator, Francis Drake, completed his circumnavigation of the world (1577 to 1580) and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I. (Wikipedia).
6 April 1894...President Grover Cleveland authorized enforcement of the Paris Award concerning the preservation of fur seals in Alaska. (USCG Historian's Office)
6 April 1909...The American explorer, Commander Robert E. Peary, USN, along with assistant Matthew Henson, and four Eskimos reported reaching the geographic North Pole; however, navigational errors may have meant that they were a few miles away from the exact pole. (Naval Historical Center) (The History Channel)
6 April 1913...USRC Seneca, a derelict destroyer (whose mission was to locate and destroy abandoned wrecks that were still afloat and a menace to navigation), inaugurated the Revenue Cutter Service's participation in the International Ice Patrol. (USCG Historian's Office)