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The radioactivity dispersion simulation JCOPE (Japan Coastal Ocean Predictability Experiment) by JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), showing cesium-137 dispersion in the Pacific Ocean from March 21, 2011 to January 27, 2012. March 21, 2011 was when the high levels of radioactive materials from the seawater near the plant were first detected. Screenshots from their JCOPE page with the simulation animation (1/30/2012).

They that go down to sea in ships, that do business in great waters: These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. 107th Psalm

Let's face it: Our president, the one who had so many outstanding parking tickets when he was just Barack Obama, has rail envy. Just judging from the number of times he's mentioned the high-speed rail system of China, which has one party rule so no problem with messy democracy stuff. Or bipartisanship, there being no bi- in Chinese politics, just uni-. Or the wonderfully modern airports that communist China has constructed that we should emulate with Obama's newest stimulus spending ideas. Well, it seems many Americans are not as enamored of China's choo-choos as the president who spent much of...

A bizarre underwater "icicle of death" has been filmed by a BBC crew. With time lapse cameras, specialists recorded salt water being excluded from the sea ice and sinking. The temperature of this sinking brine, which was well below 0C, caused the water to freeze in an icy sheath around it. Where the so-called "brinicle" met the sea bed, a web of ice formed that froze everything it touched, including sea urchins and starfish....

This may be the first nonpolitical post I've made but this was just too cool not to share: Despite the fact that one wrong move could put Garrett into an early watery grave, crushed by mega tons of water, he appeared to calm and in control, even as he traversed down the most dangerous part of the wave to set a new world record, surfing a 90 foot wave!

Problems at San Onfre nuke plant

Gigantic amoebas have been found in the Mariana Trench, the deepest region on Earth. During a July 2011 voyage to the Pacific Ocean chasm, researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and National Geographic engineers deployed untethered landers, called dropcams, equipped with digital video and lights to explore the largely mysterious region of the deep sea. The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals exclusively found in deep-sea environments. Xenophyophores are noteworthy for their size, with individual cells often exceeding 4 inches (10 centimeters), their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as...

• Radioactive Isotopes Expected to Reach U.S. Coast In One To Two Years • Woods Hole Institute To Send Research Vessel To Japan Oceanographers know that the Kuroshio current sweeps west from Japan to the Central Pacific and then toward the U.S. West Coast, but they’re less certain how it behaves after it branches toward Alaska and California. Radiation still leaking into the sea from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant will help them document the ocean’s circulatory system. “By the time that current reaches the Central Pacific, there are branches heading more towards Alaska and the South—that gets harder...

Barely a year after the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the gulf our oceans are facing an even greater threat to their survival and our own. Countless barrels of rage, fanaticism and hate were poured into the ocean Monday as Osama Bin Laden was dumped into the ocean. This came just hours after Osama's final act on earth, using a woman as a meat shield in a US raid of his compound in Pakistan. A consensus is forming that Bin Laden may be the most dangerous pollutant ever introduced into the already tumultuous and unpredictable oceans. The sea has...

Well, I'm slightly stumped. I lost the URL address where I found this (on Flickr - I just kept the URL for the picture itself). It's a nice sea arch, on the Island of Capri I think, but I'm not sure. So heck, if anyone can confirm that's where it's located, knock yourself out. Click for 2x. BONUS: I can't link to these in the grand tradition of the Geology Picture of the Week, but you can peruse them and save any of them that you like. Some of the lava lake surface pictures are very abstract. Nyiragongo lava lake,...

WE ARE living through a massive species extinction event that rivals the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But while an asteroid collision likely did in the dinos, today’s extinctions are a direct consequence of human activity, writes DICK AHLSTROM , Science Editor Whatever the cause, the result could be a complete collapse of the marine ecosystem, according to new research from the US. Far from being no more than a theory, they warn that two marine wipe-outs have occurred in the past and we may be triggering a third. Researchers from Brown University and the...

From Oregon State University:Oceanic “garbage patch” not nearly as big as portrayed in mediaCORVALLIS, Ore. – There is a lot of plastic trash floating in the Pacific Ocean, but claims that the “Great Garbage Patch” between California and Japan is twice the size of Texas are grossly exaggerated, according to an analysis by an Oregon State University scientist.Further claims that the oceans are filled with more plastic than plankton, and that the patch has been growing tenfold each decade since the 1950s are equally misleading, pointed out Angelicque “Angel” White, an assistant professor of oceanography at Oregon State.

My idea of the perfect place to live is the mountains with the ocean at their feet. This is a blessing I was fortunate enough to visit frequently when I lived in Oregon. Mountains, hills, and canyons can be found relatively quickly in the United States. However, to reach the ocean, say from Ohio, is a bit of a trip. When my wife and I first married, I said I was willing to travel and live in a great number of places. However, the one caveat that I presented was I wanted to live near the ocean for at least...

Climate change is expected to cause sea levels to rise -- at least in some parts of the world. Elsewhere, the level of the ocean will actually fall. Scientists are trying to get a better picture of the complex phenomenon, which also depends on a host of natural factors. When presented as a globe, the Earth looks as round and smooth as a billiard ball. To anyone standing on a beach, the ocean looks as flat as a pancake. But perception is deceptive. "In reality, the water in the oceans wobbles all over the place," says oceanographer Detlef Stammer. He...

Executive Order--Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Purpose. The ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes provide jobs, food, energy resources, ecological services, recreation, and tourism opportunities, and play critical roles in our Nation's transportation, economy, and trade, as well as the global mobility of our Armed Forces and the maintenance of international peace and security. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and resulting...

Two years ago, the Pacific Sun, a cruise ship out of Australia, hit rough waters, and dozens were injured in the process. The ship’s troubles were serious enough that some wondered how safe we are traveling by sea in general, but for the most part that was the end of it. Until this week. Because this week, the internet came in, as two videos surfaced demonstrating just how bad the Pacific Sun’s situation was – bad enough that mainstream media started taking notice. From Postmedia News, via the Montreal Gazette: In one video, passengers and crew are sent careening violently...

This one might be really easy, because I imagine if you've seen this one you wouldn't forget where it is. But that would mean somebody actually saw this (or at least a picture of it indicating where it is). Anyway, it's one of the most picturesque sea arches I've ever seen. The other arch (bottom 2 pictures) is located nearby. Click all for full-size.

I'll do this a bit differently; click the image and go to where you can click on a bigger version. Text accompanying the first: Etretat is well known for its cliffs, including a famous natural arch, which some call "The needle's eye." These cliffs and the beach next to them, attracted many artists (Eugène Boudin, Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet). Étretat was the birthplace of Elie Halévy (1870-1937), philosopher and historian. In the French coast in the department of Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, are the spectacular cliffs of Etretat, only two hours from Paris by car. These are two views of the...

NASA's Earth Observatory put up this remarkably low-cloud view of the Arctic. The linked article has a smaller size labeled image. (Click for full-size, 10x bigger)

A report released Thursday noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and titanium in tissue samples taken by dart gun from nearly 1,000 whales over five years. From polar areas to equatorial waters, the whales ingested pollutants that may have been produced by humans thousands of miles away, the researchers said.