Tag Archives: pacific

Establishing World-Class Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring in Okinawa

By Guest PostOctober 1, 2013Environmentacoustic doppler current, amber york, carbon, coral reef ecosystem, diversity, endemic species, energy, environmental impact, glenn mcdonnald, indian ocean, Japan, liquid jungle lab, ljl, monitoring, motobu peninsula, ocean circulation, oceancube, oist, okinawa, okinawa institute, oshima cubes, pacific, panamanian isthmus, pattern, plankton, profiler, scott gallager, whoi

Enduring two typhoons over a three-week period in August, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers, working in partnership with the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), have successfully deployed an OceanCube Observatory System in waters off Motobu Peninsula, Japan — a biodiversity hotspot that is home to ecologically significant coral reefs. The observatory system enables real-time monitoring of temperature, salinity, and other chemical, biological and physical data critical to understanding the health of and changes in the coral reef ecosystem.

Okinawa is situated at the northernmost end of the border between the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. The coral reefs there support the highest diversity of endemic species, plants and animals in the world. These coral reefs are also economically valuable, generating as much as 3 trillion yen ($30 billion) globally, and 250 billion yen ($2.5 billion) in Japan. (more…)

Scientists solve a 14,000-year-old ocean mystery

By Guest PostJuly 30, 2013Environmentabundance of isotopes, amoeba like foraminifera, bering sea, carbon dioxide, chaetoceros diatom, China, climate change, element, fossil record, ggc 37, iron hypothesis, kamchatka peninsula, ken buesseler, last ice age, loess plateau, melting glaciers, neodymium, north pacific ocean, norway, ocean mystery, ocean with iron, pacific, perfect storm, phoebe lam, phytoplankton, post ice age, russia, sediment cores, spore, strontium, university of bergen, university of bristol, whoi

At the end of the last Ice Age, as the world began to warm, a swath of the North Pacific Ocean came to life. During a brief pulse of biological productivity 14,000 years ago, this stretch of the sea teemed with phytoplankton, amoeba-like foraminifera and other tiny creatures, who thrived in large numbers until the productivity ended—as mysteriously as it began—just a few hundred years later.

Researchers have hypothesized that iron sparked this surge of ocean life, but a new study led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists and colleagues at the University of Bristol (UK), the University of Bergen (Norway), Williams College and the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University suggests iron may not have played an important role after all, at least in some settings. The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, determines that a different mechanism—a transient “perfect storm” of nutrients and light—spurred life in the post-Ice Age Pacific. Its findings resolve conflicting ideas about the relationship between iron and biological productivity during this time period in the North Pacific—with potential implications for geo-engineering efforts to curb climate change by seeding the ocean with iron. (more…)

Under California: An ancient tectonic plate

By Guest PostMarch 19, 2013Scienceancient tectonic plate, baja peninsula, brian savage, brown university, california, california coast, central california, christina rau, columbia university, donald forsyth, farallon oceanic plate, geologist, high velocity anomaly, isabella anomaly, james gaherty, lithospheric plate, Mexico, nina carriero, north american plate, pacific, rhode island, san andreas fault, seismic tomography data, seismic tomography signature, sierra nevada mountains, under california, university, university of oregon, west coast, yun wang

The Isabella anomaly — indications of a large mass of cool, dehydrated material about 100 kilometers beneath central California — is in fact a surviving slab of the Farallon oceanic plate. Most of the Farallon plate was driven deep into the Earth’s mantle as the Pacific and North American plates began converging about 100 million years ago, eventually coming together to form the San Andreas fault.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Large chunks of an ancient tectonic plate that slid under North America millions of years ago are still present under parts of central California and Mexico, according to new research led by Brown University geophysicists. (more…)

Global Warming will Open Unexpected New Shipping Routes in Arctic, UCLA Researchers Find

By Guest PostMarch 11, 2013EnvironmentArctic, arctic lakes, arctic ocean, asia, atlantic ocean, coast of russia, eastern canada, global temperature, global warming, icebreakers, independent climate forecasts, Japan, laurence c smith, new shipping routes, north pole, northern sea route, pacific, panama canal, polar class 6, projected shipping lanes, rotterdam, scott r stephenson, sea ice, shipping potential, suez, the netherlands, trans arctic, ucla researchers, vessels, yokohama

Shipping lanes through the Arctic Ocean won’t put the Suez and Panama canals out of business anytime soon, but global warming will make these frigid routes much more accessible than ever imagined by melting an unprecedented amount of sea ice during the late summer, new UCLA research shows.

“The development is both exciting from an economic development point of view and worrisome in terms of safety, both for the Arctic environment and for the ships themselves,” said lead researcher Laurence C. Smith, a professor of geography at UCLA. (more…)

2013 Summer Could be Similar to Last Summer, MU Researcher Says

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2013Environmentair temperature, below normal levels, canada, climatic features, driest summers, dry summer, el niño, hottest, la niña, last summer, northeastern path, pacific, pacific ocean, rain producing, soil moisture, the midwest, tony lupo, university of missouri, weather pattern

Farmers should prepare for possible drought conditions through July

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Last summer, the Midwest experienced one of the hottest and driest summers on record. While a few rain showers have occurred across the Midwest the past few weeks, it appears that the region is in for another dry summer. A University of Missouri researcher says that an opposing weather pattern could bring more favorable weather conditions to the Midwest, but won’t be here until after this summer. (more…)

Study Provides New Insights on Drought Predictions in East Africa

By Guest PostFebruary 4, 2013Environment20th century, aridity, atmospheric convection, charcoal, climate, climate model simulations, climate variability, columbia university, drought conditions, drought predictions, earth observatory, east africa, east african climate, eastern africa, el niño, famine, future predictions, geologic past, geologist, geopolitical significance, global warming, gulf of aden, historical fluctuations, historical patterns, horn of africa, humanitarian crisis, indian ocean, jason smerdon, jessica tierney, lake sediment cores, lamont-doherty, little brother, little ice age, long term shifts, medieval times, moisture balance, oceanographic institution, pacific, pacific ocean, paleoclimate record, paleorecord, pollen, precipitation, projections, rainfall, region, run off events, study, surface temperatures, temperature, warm sea surface, water isotopes, western indian ocean, whoi, woods hole

Research May Also Help Determine Effects of Global Warming in the Region

With more than 40 million people living under exceptional drought conditions in East Africa, the ability to make accurate predictions of drought has never been more important. In the aftermath of widespread famine and a humanitarian crisis caused by the 2010-2011 drought in the Horn of Africa—possibly the worst drought in 60 years— researchers are striving to determine whether drying trends will continue.

While it is clear that El Niño can affect precipitation in this region of East Africa, very little is known about the drivers of long-term shifts in rainfall. However, new research described in the journal Nature helps explain the mechanisms at work behind historical patterns of aridity in Eastern Africa over many decades, and the findings may help improve future predictions of drought and food security in the region. (more…)

New Study by WHOI Scientists Provides Baseline Measurements of Carbon in Arctic Ocean

By Guest PostMay 21, 2012Environmentalaska, arctic ocean, biogeosciences, canada basin, canadian coast guard, carbon, carbon 13, carbon atoms, carbon cycle, carbon dioxide, CO2, david griffith, fiona mclaughlin, global climate, icebreaker, li xu, marine ecosystem, organic carbon, pacific, pathway, robie macdonald, sea ice melt, Siberia, temperatures, whoi

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have conducted a new study to measure levels of carbon at various depths in the Arctic Ocean. The study, recently published in the journal Biogeosciences, provides data that will help researchers better understand the Arctic Ocean’s carbon cycle—the pathway through which carbon enters and is used by the marine ecosystem. It will also offer an important point of reference for determining how those levels of carbon change over time, and how the ecosystem responds to rising global temperatures.

“Carbon is the currency of life. Where carbon is coming from, which organisms are using it, how they’re giving off carbon themselves—these things say a lot about how an ocean ecosystem works,” says David Griffith, the lead author on the study. “If warming temperatures perturb the Arctic Ocean, the way that carbon cycles through that system may change.” (more…)

NASA Tests GPS Monitoring System for Big U.S. Quakes

By Guest PostApril 25, 2012Environment2004 sumatra quake, california, craig dobson, earthquake, frank webb, geoffrey blewitt, gps, gps data, hazard monitoring, la jolla, location, magnitude, NASA, natural hazard, oregon, pacific, readi, reno, ring of fire, seismological instrument, space based technology, timothy melbourne, tsunami warning, university of nevada, usgs, Washington, western united states, yehuda bock

PASADENA, Calif. – The space-based technology that lets GPS-equipped motorists constantly update their precise location will undergo a major test of its ability to rapidly pinpoint the location and magnitude of strong earthquakes across the western United States. Results from the new Real-time Earthquake Analysis for Disaster (READI) Mitigation Network soon could be used to assist prompt disaster response and more accurate tsunami warnings.

The new research network builds on decades of technology development supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The network uses real-time GPS measurements from nearly 500 stations throughout California, Oregon and Washington. When a large earthquake is detected, GPS data are used to automatically calculate its vital characteristics, including location, magnitude and details about the fault rupture. (more…)