The Antarctic Plumbing System

Scientists using NASA satellites have discovered an extensive network of waterways beneath a fast-moving Antarctic ice stream that provide clues as to how "leaks" in the system impact sea level and the world's largest ice sheet. Antarctica holds about 90 percent of the world's ice and 70 percent of the world's reservoir of fresh water.
With data from NASA satellites, a team of scientists led by research geophysicist Helen Fricker of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif., detected for the first time the subtle rise and fall of the surface of fast-moving ice streams as the lakes and channels nearly a half-mile of solid ice below filled and emptied.

The surface of the ice sheet appears stable to the naked eye, but because the base of an ice stream is warmer, water melts from the basal ice to flow, filling the system’s “pipes" and lubricating flow of the overlying ice. This web of waterways acts as a vehicle for water to move and change its influence on the ice movement. Moving back and forth through the system's "pipes" from one lake to another, the water stimulates the speed of the ice stream's flow a few feet per day, contributing to conditions that cause the ice sheet to either grow or decay. Movement in this system can influence sea level and ice melt worldwide.

years, scientists have discovered more than 145 subglacial lakes, a smaller number of which composes this "plumbing system" in the Antarctic. Bindschadler and Fricker; Ted Scambos of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo.; and Laurence Padman of Earth and Space Research in Corvallis, Ore.; observed water discharging from these under-ice lakes into the ocean in coastal areas. Their research has delivered new insight into how much and how frequently these waterways “leak” water and how many connect to the ocean.
Read more at: http://www.ocean.com/article.asp?locationid=1&resourceid=7506&ProdId=&CatId=1&TabID=&SubTabID=

Pictures of some Marine Animals

Jellyfish

Bull Shark

Bottlenose Dolphin

Antarctic Fur Seal

Bearded Fireworm

Emperor Penguin

Christmas Tree Worm

Broadclub Cuttlefish

A look at the Halifax Harbour Solutions Project

What is the Harbour Solutions Project?

Halifax Harbour has been polluted with untreated water for years, with over 181,000,000 litres per day of untreated water, both sanitary and storm wastewater.

The harbour is one of the best deepwater, ice-free ports in the world. The conditions in the habour have continued to worsen as time passed and without action will continue to do so.

Many attempts have been made during the past decades to implement a Halifax Harbour solution, but only now are the citizens of the Halifax Region finally seeing a strategy implemented. Halifax Regional Council is proceeding with the Halifax Harbour Solutions project, designed to eliminate the flow of raw sewage and other contaminants into the world-famous Halifax Harbour.
The current state of Halifax Harbour shows the significant effects of pollutants discharged to the harbour through untreated sanitary, storm and combined sewer outfalls. As a result:
Shellfish harvesting is prohibited in the harbour;
large areas of contaminated sediment exist around some forty separate outfalls;
water quality is poor along the shorelines;
bacterial contamination is widespread;
and aesthetics are poor along the Halifax/Dartmouth waterfronts due to particulates, floatables and odour.
All of these things have a detrimental affect on the reputation of our municipality and our region, and carry both economic as well as environmental impacts. Therefore, a small-scale, affordable solution has been developed, to be phased in over time, providing basic treatment for all untreated sewer discharges.

Read more at:http://www.halifax.ca/harboursol/WhatistheHarbourSolutionsProject.html

Breathless Seas

Taken from: http://www.ocean.com/article.asp?locationid=1&resourceid=6372&ProdId=&CatId=1&TabID=&SubTabID=

The Florida Red tide is an ecological phenomenon that is an annual event in areas along the Gulf of Mexico. It is blooms of the ocean organism, Karenia brevis (K brevis) and can be harmful for people with asthma.

These organisms are concentrated along shorelines and produce highly potent aerosolized toxins. New research reported in the January issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that Florida red tide toxins (known as brevetoxins) can impact respiratory function and increase respiratory symptoms in patients with asthma. Read more at the above site.

Invisible Octopus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQWxIrSRDQQ

The Geology of the Caribbean Sea

My project is on the Caribbean Sea, my section is on the Geology of the Caribbean Sea. I will give a summary of what i have so far.

Intro.: The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest salt water seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km² (1,063,000 square miles). The Caribbean Sea is a tropical sea in the western hemisphere; it is a part of the Atlantic Ocean, bounded on the south by South America, on the west and south by Mexico and Central America, and on the north and east by the Antilles. Atlantic Ocean enters the Caribbean through the Anegada Passage lying between the Lesser Antilles and Virgin Islands and the Windward Passage located between Cuba and Haiti. The Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico lie to the north, and a plethora of Lesser Antilles bound the sea on the east situated southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a Mediterranean Sea that covers most of the Caribbean Plate. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies, and adjacent coasts, are collectively known as the Caribbean. The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between Cuba and Jamaica, at 7,686 m (25,220 feet) below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darien, Golfo de los Mosquitos and Gulf of Honduras.

Geology: The Caribbean sea floor is divided into five basins that are seperated from each other by underwater mountain ranges and ridges. The sea's age has been estimated to be anywhere from 20,000 years to 570 million years. The Cayman Trough is where the deepest points in the sea lie, with depths reaching 7,686m or 25,220 feet (approximately), inspite of this the Caribbean Sea is considered relatively shallow compared to other bodies of water.

The Hispaniola and Puerto Rico trenches are the two oceanic trenches that are found on the Caribbean Sea floor, these put the area at a higher risk of earthquakes. These underwater earthquakes pose a threat of generating tsunamis that could have devastating effects on the Caribbean Islands. Scientific data reveals that over the last 500 years the area has seen a dozen earthquakes above 7.5 magnitude. Volcanic activity is also common in the Caribbean, as well as destructive hurricanes that originate over the sea or in the Atlantic.

Global Warming

While we are on the topic of global warming, i found this video also talking about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox0wOCT2fTg