A natural oil seep is thought to be responsible for a 10-mile wide oil slick on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. There are many known natural oil seeps that are known to produce surface oil slicks.
“The Mississippi River Delta is one of the largest and most productive coastal ecosystems in North America. From energy, to fisheries, to navigation, the richness of this ecosystem has sustained the U.S. economy for 300 years. [...] This document presents that evidence, based on a thorough examination of the primary questions people have raised about the future of the Mississippi River Delta.” Quoted from the report.
Shell Oil Company has completed a well in the Gulf of Mexico that is producing oil from nearly two miles below the ocean surface. It sets a new world record for the deepest offshore well.
“A technology commonly used to map the bottom of the deep ocean can also detect gas seeps in the water column.” Quoted from the University of New Hampshire news release.
Archaeologists working with cleanup workers after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill discovered dozens of new archaeological sites. Public Radio International has a podcast interview with Chip McGimsey, Louisiana State Archaeologist.
Tropical Storm Lee has been dumping heavy rain on the Gulf Coast and while many areas are experiencing heavy floods, New Orleans, so far (Sunday evening), has not had severe problems. Some of the most up-to-date information is on the NOLA.com website (the site is very busy because so many people are using it and can be unresponsive).
Tropical Storm Lee is moving very slowly over southern Louisiana. That slow rate of movement will allow it to drop very large amounts of rain on New Orleans and surrounding areas.
“TROPICAL STORM LEE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES OVER SOUTHERN LOUISIANA…SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI…AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT…WITH POSSIBLE ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 20 INCHES. THESE RAINS ARE EXPECTED TO CAUSE EXTENSIVE FLOODING.” Quote from the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Irene is moving along the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. The National Weather Service reports:
“IRENE IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS…AND IRENE COULD BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE ON TUESDAY.”
Hurricane Irene is expected to drop heavy rain on the Caribbean area today and reach Florida later this week. The National Hurricane Center forecast from Monday morning includes:
“RAINFALL…IRENE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ACROSS PUERTO RICO…THE VIRGIN ISLANDS…THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC…HAITI…THE SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS. ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF UP TO 20 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. THESE RAINS COULD CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES IN AREAS OF STEEP TERRAIN.”
The Julia Field is a huge Exxon discovery in the Gulf of Mexico about 250 miles southwest of New Orleans. It could contain a billion barrels of oil. The problem: the Department of Interior says that Exxon’s leases have expired.
Hurricane season in the North Atlantic Ocean officially began on June 1, though the season typically peaks in September. Earth Observatory caught up recently with Scott A. Braun, a research meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Scott’s specialty is using computer models to recreate the components of hurricanes, including winds and rainfall, in order to better understand the detailed inner workings of storms.
After discovering six cannons believed to be part of Captain Henry Morgan’s pirate fleet, university and government researchers ran out of funds needed to sustain their marine archaeology work off the coast of Panama. However, Captain Morgan USA, the rum maker named after the 17th century pirate, kicked in enough money for a magnetometer survey and continued work.
“The ebb and flow of the ocean tides, generally thought to be one of the most predictable forces on Earth, are actually quite variable over long time periods, in ways that have not been adequately accounted for in most evaluations of prehistoric sea level changes.” Quoted from the Oregon State University news release.
“More than a year after the largest oil spill in history, perhaps the dominant lingering question about the Deepwater Horizon spill is, “What happened to the oil?” Now, in the first published study to explain the role of microbes in breaking down the oil slick on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers have come up with answers that represent both surprisingly good news and a head-scratching mystery.” Quoted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution news release.
“Tropical Storm Don formed at 5 p.m. EDT last night, July 27, in the southern Gulf of Mexico and appears to be a small storm on GOES-13 satellite imagery. NASA compiled two days of GOES-13 imagery in a 30 second movie that shows how and where Don formed.” Quoted from the NASA news release.
“Taking another major step in sleuthing the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a research team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution determined what chemicals were contained in a deep, hydrocarbon-containing plume.” Quoted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution news release.
Heavy flooding this spring and summer has pumped so much fresh water into the Gulf of Mexico that many oysters have died – they require salt water to survive. As a result the oyster harvest could be cancelled or restricted to give oyster populations a chance to recover. This will severely hurt businesses and employees involved in the harvest, processing and sale of oyster products.
The Bureau of OceanEnergy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has released a study that describes new seismic assessment methods for gas hydrate deposits in the Gulf of Mexico.
“As the floodwaters swept over farms and towns in May and June 2011, they scoured fertilized soil from the ground and carried it downstream. Swollen rivers dumped thousands of tons of nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico, where they are forecast to cause a record “dead zone” this summer.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
Exxon Mobil Corporation announced a large oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, believed to be the largest in the past decade. Company geologists estimate that is has the potential for more than 700 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.
Record flooding in the Mississippi River and Missouri River is expected to result in the largest dead zone ever seen in the Gulf of Mexico. Large amounts of fertilizer and animal waste carried by flood waters contribute to formation of the dead zone.
“Proxy data such as tree rings, ice cores, and microorganisms are collected and analyzed by scientists to unlock past climate records stretching back thousands to millions of years ago. This video podcast examines how scientists can decipher past climate from such records by focusing on a proxy calibration study in the Gulf of Mexico.” Quoted from the USGS video release.
Researchers studying the effects of Hurricane Katrina and Rita say that hurricanes could supply all of the inorganic sediment and silt that healthy wetlands need. The silt and sediment are a small portion of wetlands but a major part of the framework for a wetland.
“In water from outside the slick, respiration rates were normal (that is, moderately low). In water from within the slick, respiration rates were about 10 times higher. The microbes were consuming oil at a very fast rate. But they also lacked nutrients….” Quoted from the WHOI press release.
Land loss and seafloor change around the Mississippi and Alabama barrier islands are of great concern to the public and to local, state, and federal agencies. USGS has published: “Historical Bathymetry and Bathymetric Change in the Mississippi-Alabama Coastal Region, 1847–2009″.
National Geographic has a zoomable “during and after” map of the Gulf coast that shows the relative amount of oil that was observed on beaches during and after the Deepwater Horizon spill. Many of the beaches that had heavy to moderate oil now have only a trace if any oil observed. Data used to make the map was obtained from NOAA.
“For the first time, scientists have been able to validate the age of deep-sea black corals in the Gulf of Mexico. They found the Gulf is home to 2,000 year-old deep-sea black corals, many of which are only a few feet tall. [...] Deep-sea black corals are a perfect example of ecosystems linked between the surface and the deep ocean. They can potentially record this link in their skeleton for hundreds to thousands of years.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
“Colorado State University researchers predicted that the 2011 hurricane season will have significantly more activity than average. They predict 9 hurricanes (compared to an average of 5.9) and 16 named storms (compared to an average of 9.6). The probability for one major hurricane (category 3, 4, or 5) tracking into the Caribbean is 61 percent, compared to an average probability of 42 percent. The probability for a major hurricane making landfall on the Gulf Coast is 47 percent, compared to an average of 30 percent.” Quote from the Energy Information Administration.
Archaeologists have discovered a battery of cannons in sediments at the mouth of the Chagres River. They are thought to be from one of pirate Captain Henry Morgan’s ships that wrecked en route to a raid on a town that is now known as Panama City in 1671.
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