Heat and Cold Damage Coral in Different Ways
February 9, 2012 | UC San Diego
“Around the world coral reefs are facing threats brought by climate change and dramatic shifts in sea temperatures. While warming has been the primary focus for scientists and ocean policy managers, cold can also cause significant damage.” Quoted from the NSF press release. |
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National Tsunami Awareness Week: March 20-26
February 1, 2012 | NOAA
“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. |
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Drilling Report from the Iberian Coast
January 24, 2012 | National Science Foundation
“Mediterranean bottom currents and the sediment deposits they leave behind offer new insights into global climate change, the opening and closing of ocean circulation gateways and locations where hydrocarbon deposits may lie buried under the sea.” |
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ESA: Arctic Fresh Water Dome Could Spill into the Atlantic
January 23, 2012 | European Space Agency
“ESA satellites show that a large dome of fresh water has been building up in the Arctic Ocean over the last 15 years. A change in wind direction could cause the water to spill into the north Atlantic, cooling Europe.” Quote from the ESA website. |
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Zoning Laws for the Ocean?
January 19, 2012 | Voice of America
“U.S. communities routinely use zoning laws to control where businesses may operate in a neighborhood. Now there’s a move to zone the ocean. A number of coastal states and the federal government have fledgling plans to coordinate competing uses for their off-shore waters.” Quoted from Voice of America. |
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IODP/USIO, Jennifer Magnusson
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Microbes Deep in the Oceanic Crust
January 12, 2012 | National Science Foundation
“Of all the habitable parts of our planet, one ecosystem still remains largely unexplored and unknown to science: the igneous ocean crust. While scientists have estimated that microbes living in deep ocean sediments may represent as much as one-third of Earth’s total biomass, the habitable portion of the rocky ocean crust may be 10 times as great.” |
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New Island in the Red Sea
January 10, 2012 | NASA Earth Observatory
A January 7th satellite image of the Red Sea shows the new volcanic island about 40 miles off the cost of Yemen. The pushpin on the Google Map at right shows the location of the new island. For an image showing steam and ash escaping from the vent visit the Earth Observatory website. If you look closely at the zoomed in map you will see that the island is located in the center of the Red Sea Rift. |
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Law of the Sea Website
January 9, 2012 | US. Department of State
The U.S. Department of State has a new website that provides information on the “Law of the Sea Convention”. The Law of the Sea will govern the use of Earth’s oceans and define Territorial Seas and Exclusive Economic Zones that will be controlled by various countries.
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What is Marine Snow?
January 6, 2012 | NOAA
Do you know? Here is a clue… “The “snowflakes” grow as they fall, some reaching several centimeters in diameter. Some flakes fall for weeks before finally reaching the ocean floor.” |
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Russian Runoff and Arctic Ocean Salinity
January 4, 2012 | NASA
“A new NASA and University of Washington study allays concerns that melting Arctic sea ice could be increasing the amount of freshwater in the Arctic enough to have an impact on the global ocean conveyor belt’ that redistributes heat around our planet.” Quoted from the NASA press release.
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A New Island in the Red Sea?
December 29, 2011 | NASA Earth Observatory
“An eruption occurred in the Red Sea in December 2011. According to news reports, fishermen witnessed lava fountains reaching up to 30 meters tall on December 19.
By December 23, 2011, what looked like a new island appeared in the region.” Quote from the NASA image release. |
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Debris from the Japan Tsunami Hits North American Beaches
December 26, 2011 | Anchorage Daily News
Debris washed from Japan by the March 11, 2011 tsunami is starting to wash up on the shorelines of Alaska, British Columbia and Washington. |
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The Japan 2011 Earthquake Produced a “Merging Tsunami”
December 7, 2011 | NASA
“NASA and Ohio State University researchers have discovered the major tsunami generated by the Japan earthquake of March 2011 was a long-hypothesized ‘merging tsunami.’ The tsunami doubled in intensity over rugged ocean ridges, amplifying its destructive power at landfall.” |
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Continuing Subsea Volcanic Activity Off the Canary Islands
December 6, 2011 | BBC
Volcanic activity continues south of El Hierro Island in the Canary Island chain. The cone is growing and is now about 60 meters below the surface. Will it produce a new island?
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Interesting Photos from the Canary Islands Eruption
December 5, 2011 | Eruptions
The Eruptions blog has interesting photos and commentary on the continuing subsea volcanic activity near the Canary Islands in a post titled: “Mixing Magmas at the Ongoing El Hierro Eruption“. |
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What is a Brinicle?
November 29, 2011 | BBC
BBC.com has an underwater video that documents the formation of a brinicle – a brine icicle that forms beneath sea ice under extremely cold environment. |
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Shell: Arctic Oil Exploration Leader
November 28, 2011 | Bloomberg
An article on the Bloomberg.com website reports that Royal Dutch Shell is currently the leading company for oil exploration in the Arctic. |
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Shell Sets New Deep-Water Record in the Gulf of Mexico
November 21, 2011 | Houston Chronicle
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. |
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History of the Icebreaker
November 15, 2011 | Business Week
Businessweek has an article that traces the history of the icebreaker from the first steam-powered vessel built to clear Philadelphia’s harbor to the new polar-class vessels that will be needed as activity in the Arctic escalates. |
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Flood Threat to Bangkok is Rising
November 14, 2011 | Discovery News
The land beneath Bangkok is subsiding, sea level is rising and that means flood risk for the Thai capital is rapidly increasing. An article in Discovery News explores the threat of flooding for the citizens, businesses and government of Thailand. |
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