Today’s magnitude 8.6 and magnitude 8.2 earthquakes off the western coast of northern Sumatra produced small tsunamis that tested warning systems developed since the 2004 Indian Oceantsunami.
“This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through December 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.” Quoted from the NASA visualization release.
“The TsunamiReady Program, developed by the National Weather Service, is designed to help cities, towns, counties, universities and other large sites in coastal areas reduce the potential for disastrous tsunami-related consequences.” NOAA has educational materials available for people of all ages.
Plate “boundary segments that ring the Australia plate represent some of the most seismically active elements of the global plate boundary system, and some of the most rapidly evolving plate interactions. As a result, there are some very complex structures which host many large and great earthquakes.” Quoted from the USGS publication release.
“After the recent great quakes that have swept away entire coastlines and cities in Japan, Haiti and Sumatra, scientists are now looking hard at the nation that may suffer the gravest threat of all: Bangladesh.”
We thought that this was an excellent video. Did you know that a magnitude 8 earthquake caused the Brahmaputra River to change course? Have you ever seen a human powered drill rig – made from bamboo – that can complete a 300 foot-deep well in one day?
“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.
“Earth’s deep oceans may absorb enough heat at times to flatten the rate of global warming for periods of as long as a decade–even in the midst of longer-term warming.” Quoted from the National Science Foundation press release.
Russia and China are very interested in the mineral resources of Antarctica and hope that the current ban on mining will be lifted in 2048. They currently have seafloor exploration projects on ocean ridges that approach the continent.
This NASA video explains how surface ocean currents are driven by wind while deeper currents are driven by density. “Aquarius salinity data, combined with data from other sensors that measure sea level, ocean color, temperature, winds, and rainfall, will give us a much clearer picture of how the ocean works.” Quoted from the NASA video release.
Scientists can now remotely monitor the ocean’s changing chemistry with help from some of the five-foot-tall Argo floats that drift with deep ocean currents and transmit data via satellite back to land.
“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.
“Site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 19th Century, Anak Krakatau (also known as Krakatoa) has been intermittently active for the past several decades. On July 31, 2011, a wispy ash plume rose above the volcano and drifted west.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory press release.
“As one of the planet’s largest single carbon absorbers, the ocean takes up roughly one-third of all human carbon emissions, reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide and its associated global changes.” Quoted from the University of Wisconsin-Madison news release.
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