Weekly Ocean News

WEEK TWO: 1-5 February 2016

Items of Interest

• Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2016 Campaign resumes -- The second in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2016 will commence on Monday (1 February) and continue through 10 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 in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The next series in the 2016 campaign is scheduled for 1-10 March 2016. [GLOBE at Night]
• Coloring book helps elementary school students learn global climate system basics -- The Midwestern Regional Climate Center has developed a fun way for students in grades 3-5 to learn the basics of the global climate system with a coloring book called Color and Understand the Global Climate System that can be downloaded and printed. [Midwestern Regional Climate Center]
• 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, organized tropical cyclones (low pressure systems such as tropical storms and hurricanes that form over tropical oceans) were limited to the South Indian Ocean basin. At the start of last week, Cyclone Corentin, which had become a category 1 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale over the previous weekend, weakened as it traveled to the southeast and east-southeast across the western sections of the basin. By Tuesday (local time) Corentin weakened and became a remnant low pressure system approximately 1400 miles to south-southeast of Diego Garcia. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Cyclone Corentin.
  Late in the week, a second tropical cyclone formed in the eastern sections of the basin off the coast of Western Australia, or approximately 250 miles to the north-northwest of the coast city of Port Hedland. This system, identified as Tropical Cyclone Stan, intensified from tropical storm strength to a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it traveled toward the south-southeast. As of early Sunday (local time), a weakening Stan made landfall along the coast of Western Australia to the east-northeast of Port Hedland and then dissipated. Satellite images and additional information for Tropical Cyclone Stan can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
• Critical habitat areas for endangered North Atlantic right whales are expanded -- .During the last week, NOAA Fisheries expanded the areas identified as critical habitat for the endangered North Atlantic right whales to cover the whales' northeast feeding areas in the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank region off the New England coast and their southeast calving grounds along the coastal waters of the Atlantic extending from North Carolina to Florida. [NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region News]
• Ocean data products for the Mid-Atlantic States are unveiled -- At a forum held last week, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), a five state partnership of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, announced that it was releasing a wide-ranging set of information on the vast natural resources and economically-important uses of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean along the coasts of these five states. The analytical data that would become available through MARCO's "Ocean Data Portal" are meant to improve the scientific basis for regional ocean decision-making that would contribute to the health and well-being of the region's coastal communities. [Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean]
• Enormous blades could result in more offshore energy for US -- Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories, several universities and private companies are conducting research on an extreme-scale Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotor (SUMR), a 50-meter long blade that would eventually be upgraded to 200-meter length blades for use on low-cost offshore 50-MWwind turbines. These wind turbines could provide electric power to the United States. requiring a rotor blade more than 650 feet (200 meters) long, two and a half times longer than any existing wind blade. [Sandia National Laboratory New Releases]
• Rainfall amounts could be affected by phase of the moon -- Researchers at the University of Washington claim that the phase of the moon could cause slight changes in the amount of rainfall because the changes in the tidal force exerted by the Moon could create nearly imperceptible bulges in the Earth's atmosphere that would result in a slight oscillation in air pressure. Satellite data over the tropics reveal a slight reduction in rainfall when the Moon is directly overhead or underfoot. [University of Washington News]
• Fertilizing oceans to mitigate climate warming may not be as effective as thought -- An international team of scientists who have collected analyzed seafloor sediments from the central equatorial Pacific Ocean have found evidence that fertilizing the oceans with iron as one of the proposed ways designed to mitigate climate warming may not necessarily work as envisioned. Fertilizing the ocean by iron was intended to produce more carbon-consuming algae, but adding iron may not necessarily remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as previously thought. [The Earth Institute, Columbia University News Archive]
• 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]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

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

• 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)
• 5 February 1924...Hourly time signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were broadcast for the first time. (Wikipedia)
• 5 February 1997...High winds pushed mountains of ice against the northern shore of Lake Erie crushing several houses and cottages in Colchester, Ontario. This phenomenon is known as ice shove. (The Weather Doctor)
• 5 February 2004 - Nineteen Chinese cockle-pickers from a group of 35 drowned after being trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. (Wikipedia)
• 6 February 1933...The highest reliably observed ocean wave was observed by crew of the US Navy oiler, USS Ramapo, in the North Pacific during the night on its way from Manila to San Diego. The wave was estimated (by triangulation) to have a height of 112 feet. Average winds at the time were 78 mph. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (See additional discussion on highest ocean waves)
• 7 February 1969...USCGC Tern, commissioned on this date and stationed in New York, embodied an advanced concept in servicing aids to navigation. Her over-the-stern gantry system of handling buoys is unique. The automation and modernization of over-age, isolated lighthouses and light stations showed significant progress this year. A new, more effective version of the LAMP (Lighthouse Automation and Modernization Project) plan was promulgated in this year. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 7 February 1978...The worst winter storm of record struck coastal New England. The storm produced 27.5 inches of snow at Boston, and nearly 50 inches in northeastern Rhode Island. The fourteen-foot tide at Portland, ME was probably the highest of the century. Winds gusted to 79 mph at Boston, and reached 92 mph at Chatham, MA. A hurricane-size surf caused 75 deaths and 500 million dollars damage. (David Ludlum)
• 8 February 1987...A powerful storm produced blizzard conditions in the Great Lakes Region. North winds of 50 to 70 mph raised the water level of southern Lake Michigan two feet, and produced waves 12 to 18 feet high, causing seven million dollars damage along the Chicago area shoreline. It was the most damage caused by shoreline flooding and erosion in the history of the city of Chicago. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

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Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D.,
email hopkins@aos.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2016, The American Meteorological Society.