Weekly Ocean News

Weekly Ocean News

19-23 February 2018

For Your Information

In celebration of Whale Week 2018 - NOAA Fisheries has posted a variety of videos, photos and other information in recognition of Whale Week 2018. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Stories]
Olympic athletes and fans get a cold greeting in Pyeongchang -- Below-average temperatures across the Korean Peninsula during the first week of February greeted athletes and fans attending the 2018 Winter Olympics that are being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. A land surface temperature anomaly map was produced from data collected by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite showing the cold conditions as a broad area of negative departures in the temperature of the surface during that opening week from the long-term average temperatures. A natural-color image obtained last week from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite shows clouds streaming across the Korean Peninsula and surrounding waters on cold winds from Siberia, which is located to the northwest. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Nation's geosynchronous satellites are part of an international partnership -- NOAA's GOES-East and GOES-West satellites that are positioned in geosynchronous orbit around Earth to view environmental conditions over North and South America along with the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins are part of an international partnership to monitor atmospheric conditions from around the world. Two additional geosynchronous satellites are part of this partnership: Japan's Himawari-8 satellite monitors the western Pacific, Australia and eastern Asia, and Europe's Meteosat-10 satellite takes observations over Europe, Africa and the Indian Ocean. In addition, other geosynchronous satellites operated by Europe, China, India and Korea also image the Earth and supply essential weather information. [NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service News]
Reconstructing past oceanic conditions from marine sediment cores -- If you would like information on how scientists can reconstruct past environmental conditions in the oceans from the analysis of the physical, chemical and geological data in deep-sea sediment cores, please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics --- Several tropical cyclones (low pressure systems such as tropical storms or hurricanes that form over tropical oceans) were found across the tropical ocean basins during the last week:

In the western South Pacific basin, Cyclone Gita began traveling westward at the start of last week, after having tracked to the southeast and south over the previous weekend. Gita had become a category 2 tropical cyclone (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) by the beginning of the week, but as it traveled westward, it strengthened to become a major tropical cyclone by Thursday with a category 4 status as maximum sustained surface winds reached at least 140 mph as it approached Tonga. With two deaths and severe damage occurring on the islands of Tongatapu and 'Eua in the Kingdom of Tonga, Cyclone Gita is considered to the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Tonga since reliable records began [ABC.net News]. Samoa and American Samoa were also affected by the strong winds and heavy rains from Gita. During the later part of the week, Gita began to curve toward the west-southwest and then to the southwest, weakening to become a tropical storm by Sunday. As of Monday morning, the center of Tropical Storm Gita was located 370 miles to the west-southwest of Kingston, the capital of the Australian South Pacific Territory of Norfolk Island. Although Tropical Storm Gita was expected to continue weakening, it was forecast to strike New Zealand on Tuesday (local time). Satellite images and additional information on Cyclone Gita can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the western North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Sanba passed across the southern Philippine Islands that include Mindanao and the Visayas islands at the beginning of last week. Torrential rains that accompanied Sanba resulted in major flooding on Mindanao [Aljazeera] The interaction with the mountains on these islands caused Sanba to weaken to a tropical depression as it traveled toward the west-southwest. By late last Thursday, Tropical Depression Sanba had approached Palawan Island in the western Philippines near the city of Puerto Princesa before dissipating over the waters of the Sulu Sea. The NASA Home Page has additional information and satellite imagery for Tropical Storm Sanba (formerly TD-2W).
In the South Indian Ocean, a tropical depression formed last Friday (local time) off the coast of Western Australia that quickly became Tropical Storm Kelvin (initially called Tropical Storm 10S) as it traveled toward the southwest. Over this past weekend, Kelvin curved to take a track toward the south, strengthening to become a category one tropical cyclone (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) with maximum sustained surface winds of at least 90 mph late Sunday night as it reached the Kimberly coast of Western Australia. At that time, the center of Cyclone Kelvin was located almost 100 miles to the south-southwest of Broome, Australia. Torrential rains, which produced flooding, accompanied Kelvin as it made landfall at Anna Plains Station [ABC.net News]. Kelvin should weaken as it continues to travel inland on a path toward the south-southeast during the first several days of this week. The NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Cyclone Kelvin (previously known as Tropical Storm 10S).

NOAA's hydrographic survey plans for 2018 season are released -- The NOAA Coast Survey recently released the agency's plans for the 2018 hydrographic season that will begin in April. Operations will be conducted by NOAA hydrographic survey ships and contractors in maritime priority areas around the nation that include Alaska, Washington and California along the Pacific Coast, Louisiana, Texas and Florida along the Gulf of Mexico Coast and Chesapeake Bay, Florida and Puerto Rico along the Atlantic Coast. [NOAA Coast Survey News]
Meeting of US Coral Reef Task Force to be held this week -- The US Coral Reef Task Force is scheduled to hold its 39th biannual meeting in Washington, DC this Tuesday through Thursday (19-23 February), with public sessions on Thursday. The US Coral Reef Task Force includes leaders of 12 Federal agencies, seven US States, Territories, Commonwealths, and three Freely Associated States to lead national efforts to preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems. This week's meeting, to be co-chaired by NOAA in the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior, is intended to emphasize the importance of coral reef conservation and highlight conservation strategies and successes. An enhanced vision will promote how the task force can meet the challenges facing coral reefs, and the communities and economies that depend on them. [US Coral Reef Task Force]
State of Australia's weather and climate in 2017 from a "Down Under" perspective -- The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia released its "Annual climate statement 2017" report describing Australia's climate during 2017. This past year was the third warmest year on record, which began in 1910. The El Niño Niñ-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which are the main natural climate drivers for Australia, were in a neutral phase for most of the year. The upward trend in temperature during the last decade, appears to be linked to anthropogenic climate change induced by increased greenhouse gas emissions. While the national average precipitation was slightly above the long-term average, below average precipitation was experienced in eastern Australia and along Western Australia's western coast. [Australian Bureau of Meteorology]
Satellite data reveal sea level rise is accelerating -- Using 25 years of data collected by NASA and European satellites, a team of researchers found that the rate of global sea level rise has been accelerating in recent decades, rather than increasing steadily. This acceleration, which appears to be driven mainly by increased melting of the icecaps in Greenland and Antarctica, has the potential to cause the total sea level rise to be 26 inches by 2100, or double the amount projected assuming a constant rate of sea level rise. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory News]
Extending sea-ice prediction from days to decades involves unique collaboration -- A scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory has created the Los Alamos sea ice model, CICE, a numerical model that is used to predict sea ice extent, thickness and movement in both the Arctic Ocean and the waters around Antarctica. This model was developed within the CICE Consortium that had representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S Department of Defense (Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center and the Naval Postgraduate School), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (numerous groups including the National Weather Service, Earth System Research Laboratory and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory), the National Science Foundation (National Center for Atmospheric Research), Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the UK Met Office. [NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research News]
Predicting climate change could involve finding what could be blowing in the wind -- An international team of scientists from Clemson University, China's Lanzhou University and the University of Rochester claim that the Earth's climate cooled approximately 2.7 million years ago near the end of the Pliocene Epoch because of dust from eastern Asia that was blown into the Pacific Ocean. They theorize monsoon precipitation intensified at this time, causing erosion along the Tibetan Plateau and lower elevation areas nearby in present-day China. Winds carrying the relatively loose sediment from eastern Asia into the North Pacific Ocean, where it likely helped spur photosynthesis by tiny marine organisms through fertilization of the ocean water, resulting in a drawdown of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The researchers suggest that the mechanisms that brought global cooling near the end of the Pliocene could also occur in the future. [Clemson University Newsstand]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

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.

Historical Events

12 February 1907...A collision of the steamer Larchmont and a large schooner, the Harris Knowlton, during a blizzard resulted in the deaths of 332 people. Only nine survivors were rescued. The incident occurred off Rhode Island's Block Island and was the worst disaster in New England maritime history. (RMS Titanic History)
12 February 1997...A combination of heavy surf and high winds contributed to the overturning of a U.S. Coast Guard motor life boat (MLB 44363) on a search and rescue mission when responding to a distress call from the sailing vessel Gale Runner in the stormy North Pacific Ocean off Washington State's Quillayute River Bar. Three of four crew members lost their lives in the first fatal sinking of this type of ship in its 35-year history. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (USCG Historian's Office)
13 February 1784...Ice floes blocked the Mississippi River at New Orleans, then passed into the Gulf of Mexico. The only other time this occurred was during the "Great Arctic Outbreak" of 1899. (David Ludlum)
19 February 1473...Nicolaus Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy, was born in Torun in north central Poland. He was the first modern European scientist to propose that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. (The History Channel)
19 February 1845...The Lighthouse Establishment was transferred to the Revenue Marine Bureau. Metal buoys were first put into service. They were riveted iron barrels that replaced the older wooden stave construction. (USCG Historian's Office)
19 February 1972...A vicious coastal storm dumped 10 to 20 inches of snow over interior sections of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states and caused some of the worst coastal damage of the century in New England. Storm surges up to 4.5 ft and winds gusting over 80 mph along coastal Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine resulted in extensive property damage and tremendous beach erosion. Twenty-seven houses were destroyed and 3000 damaged in Massachusetts alone. (Intellicast)
19 February 1977...Using the research submersible Alvin, deep-ocean researchers John B. Corliss and John M. Elmond found an extraordinary oasis of life on the Pacific Ocean floor off the Galapagos Islands, including new types of worms, clams and crabs around geothermal hot water vents. These organisms appeared to depend upon bacteria oxidizing hydrogen sulfide contained in the volcanic gases spewing out of the hot springs. (Today in Science History)
20 February 1823...English Captain James Weddell and the brig Jane reached 74 deg 15 min S, or 940 mi (1520 km) from the South Pole. His voyage reached farther south than anyone had ventured until the 1850s, as it was 214 mi south of the latitude that Captain James Cook had sailed.
20 February 1835...While in Chile, Charles Darwin experienced a strong earthquake and shortly thereafter saw evidence of uplift in the region. From measurements, he determined that the land rose several feet, and later hypothesized that coral reefs in the Pacific could develop along margins of subsiding landmasses. (Today in Science History)
20 February 1856...The John Rutledge, an American steamer that sailed from Liverpool, England for New York, hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Most of the 155 people onboard were lost.
21 February 1835...The HMS Beagle, along with Charles Darwin left Valdivia, Chile.
21 February 1907...During an exceptionally heavy gale, the British-owned mail ship Berlin hit dangerous shoals and broke up while attempting to navigate around the Hook of Holland in the English Channel. Only 14 on board survived, while 127 were killed or drowned.
22 February 1773...Extreme cold swept down the length of the Eastern Seaboard. A ship off the coast of Saint Augustine, FL reported a snowstorm severe enough to cause the loss of the ship and most of her crew. (National Weather Service files)
22 February 1901...A mail steamboat struck a rock and broke apart while attempting to enter the Golden Gate near San Francisco, CA during heavy fog, drowning 128 people. (National Weather Service files)
22-26 February 1995...Cyclone Bobby slammed into the Western Australia coast causing widespread flooding. Some areas reported up to 12 in. of rain from the storm. (The Weather Doctor)
23 February 1802...A great snowstorm raged along the New England coast producing 48 inches of snow north of Boston and 54 inches of snow at Epping, NH. Three large (indiamen) ships from Salem were wrecked along Cape Cod by strong winds. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
23-24 February 1995...Cyclone Bobby slammed into the Western Australia coast causing widespread flooding. Some areas reported as much as 12 inches of rain from the storm. On the 24th
Tropical Cyclone Bobby had 1-min sustained winds of 148 mph and a pressure of 930 millibars. (National Weather Service files)
24 February 1881...De Lesseps' Company began work on the Panama Canal
25 February 1977...An oil tanker explosion west of Honolulu spilled 31 million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean.