S.C.U.B.A. Diving

Yosemite. Yellowstone. The Smoky Mountains. The Everglades. The Grand Canyon. Everyone knows these magical places that are the gems of America’s national parks. But how many are familiar with the Flower Garden Banks, Fagatelle Bay, Gray’s Reef, Thunder Bay or the Gulf of the Farallones? Little-known and seldom-visited by travelers, these are just a few of the 13 national marine sanctuaries in the United States. Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures returns this September with the series finale: a two-part special investigation of these exquisitely beautiful locales in America’s Underwater Treasures, airing on two consecutive Wednesdays, September 20 at 8pm and September 27 at 8pm (both 60 minutes) on PBS.

Jean-Michel Cousteau, his son Fabien, his daughter Celine and his team of expert divers set out for the first time to investigate all 13 of these distinct ecosystems. While discovering what makes each of them unique, the team also explores what threatens these sites and what is being done. Traversing thousands of miles, the Ocean Adventures team goes below and above the sea off the coasts of Michigan, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Hawaii and American Samoa in a quest to introduce Americans to these vibrant but fragile marine sanctuaries.

Cousteau and field experts explore the histories, biologies and environments of this vast marine park system, from diverse aquatic life to the cautious relationship between the sanctuaries and industry. The team corrects long-held myths that sanctuaries are either places that cannot be visited or that ban all fishing. While long car lines and growing visitor restrictions are commonplace at our better known national parks, our national marine sanctuaries are the stage for fabulous sights and sounds that few explore but that still belong to all.

Chased by hurricanes, attacked by swarms of insects and chilled by plunges into frigid waters, the Ocean Adventures team finds nature and history at its most spectacular. They are witness to breathtaking sights: sea turtles laying their eggs on the shore in the middle of the Georgia night; coral spawning like fireworks among the reefs; kelp forests as thick and tall as the California redwoods; the rusting wreck of the Civil War ironclad “USS Monitor,” lying more than 200 feet below the Carolina coast; the recovery of lost fishing nets off the Olympic Coast; and even a flourishing natural city under the sea, coexisting with a man-made oil rig.

In a curious and positive twist of fate, the final place noted in America’s Underwater Treasures is the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, now designated as a national monument, and the location of the series’ first, two-part film, Voyage to Kure.

Source: http://www.ocean.com/resource.asp?resourceid=5737&catid=132&locationid=2

Scientists at The University of Manchester have uncovered the first evidence of seawater deep inside the Earth shedding new light on the fate of the planet's oceans, according to research published in Nature (May 11, 2006).

For years geologists have debated whether seawater is subducted (absorbed) into the deep Earth or whether there is a 'subduction barrier' blocking its absorption.
For the first time scientists at The University of Manchester have positively identified seawater in volcanic gas samples originating from the Earth's mantle - the region just below the crust and extending all the way down to the core -- supporting the theory that seawater is subducted deep into the Earth and enabling them to test this theory further.
Professor Chris Ballentine and Dr Greg Holland of the University's School of Earth and Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences have also revealed that up to 10% of the Earth's oceans have been absorbed deep into the Earth since its formation.
Professor Ballentine said: "We can show that up to 10% of the Earth's oceans have been absorbed into the planet since formation. This accounts for about half of the water in the deep earth, the remainder of which was trapped when the Earth first formed. This work, for the first time, quantifies the 'geological water cycle'."
Trace gases were used to identify seawater in volcanic gas samples. This was done by counting the relative number of atoms of different noble gases (Argon, Krypton and Xenon) in the samples which revealed an atomic 'fingerprint' matching that of seawater.
The study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, is also the first to establish the precise composition of the noble gases present in the Earth's mantle. In addition to identifying seawater the noble gases have provided a cornerstone for understanding the very origin of gases and water in our planet.
Dr Holland said: "As we now know how much seawater and associated gases were added to the deep Earth, we can identify what was down there to start with much more precisely. This is absolutely critical for understanding how our planet formed and has changed over time"
Professor Ballentine added: "Our results also explain why ocean volcanoes, like Hawaii and Iceland, which come from the where the mantle meets the core, have a higher water content than ocean volcanoes that originate from shallower regions of the mantle. Previously, geologists have thought that this is because this region of the planet preferentially preserved water and gasses trapped during earth formation and it is only now 'leaking out'. We know however that if seawater subduction is occurring, it will be carried more efficiently into the deepest parts of the earth, and that contrary to these old ideas, the water in the lavas from Hawaii and Iceland are in fact dominated by old seawater that has travelled from the surface, to the center of the earth and back again."

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060511083341.htm

The ancient mariners were right. Tales of "milky seas" that glow bluish-white at night and extend as far as the horizon have been spun by sailors for centuries. Now this eerie glow has been spotted from space.

Steve Miller of the US Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California, found this strange phenomenon in a trawl through archives of satellite cloud-cover data. Though the effect has been reported more than 200 times since 1915, he could find only one account that documented the precise time and location of an observation - in the north-western Indian Ocean in 1995.

"I didn't really expect to see anything in the corresponding satellite data, because the light is so weak," says Miller. "But serendipity intervened, and I found a possible match within 30 minutes."

When Miller and his colleagues amplified the signal, a bright structure that followed the sea surface currents popped out. The structure spanned 15,400 square kilometres - an area the size of Connecticut, and far larger than previously estimated by sailors. What's more, it lasted for three consecutive nights (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0507253102).

Although no one fully understands what causes this nocturnal white blanket, the favourite theory is that bioluminescence from bacteria associated with micro-algae might be responsible. From the size of area covered, Miller calculates that 4 × 1022 bacteria would be needed to produce the light.

Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825195.600&feedId=earth_rss20