Just finished working on a proposal (I am not the lead on this but have the OK of the lead to post) for a very detailed survey of an 1800 m-high seafloor escarpment that is caused by the folding absorbing the blind component of slip on a major southern California thrust (or oblique thrust) fault...that probably makes it to the seafloor. There is pretty good evidence on a seismic reflection profile that there is frozen methane in the 200 m below the seafloor (although it could be something else). Right now, in that part of southern California, the water temperature and pressure make the solid form of methane stable below 400 or 450 m depth. If the water temperatures at that depth became higher, the methane near that depth would be released into the water and then atmosphere. This is positive feedback for global warming. Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than is Carbon Dioxide. Gaseous methane can accumulate under the solid methane, and high gas pressures would weaken the sediment. During an earthquake, if there is a large submarine landslide, much of the solid and gas methane might be released. J.K. and I published an abstract in 1999 that this may be what happened with a very large submarine landslide beneath Santa Barbara Channel. It has not been proved, but this landslide is not older than a few hundred years and may be responsible for the tsunami reported during the 1812 earthquake (which followed a San Andreas fault earthquake by 13 days). OK, I took the time to make this post...so cut me some slack on the following. Global warming is no joke. CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have been measured for decades and increased by more than 30%. There are going to be real changes in the next decades, and some of them could be sudden. It is offensive to me as a scientist that the Bush administration does not take this seriously. I just read the latest issue of Sierra magazine (Sierra Club) and some of what the Bush administration has done, and may do, is pretty alarming. I have been a member of the environmental organization "Save the Bay" in Rhode Island for almost 30 years. Save the Bay is supported by Republicans as well as democrats. I even voted for the late John Chafee (sp?) for Governer-Chafee was a Republican. He became a U.S. senatator..I think his son is still an environmental Republican US Senator. I am curious how many members of the Sierra Club are Republicans: The Sierra Club is trying as hard as it can to get Pres. Bush voted out.
Oh yes...Jamaicans. Hurricane Ivan is category 5 with 160 mph sustained winds this morning, and headed for Jamaica, then Cuba, then Florida. The strength of a hurricane is very much related to the water temperature beneath it. The National Hurricane Center suggests that Ivan may strengthen further this morning..because the water is even warmer in the path of Ivan (30 deg. C, =86 deg F).it is close to the most intense ever in the Atlantic basin...air pressure of 916 mb and dropping (it is probably about 1020 mb in California today). The water under some of these recent hurricanes is warmer than usual...can't say if this is natural or enhanced by man-induced warming. But, still may be ironic that Florida, the state that elected the anti-environmental president, seems to be under the gun. Speaking of which, there will be lots more assault weapons in Florida and elsewhere because the ban on them expires on Monday, the same day that Ivan is forecast to hit south Florida. Maybe there can be a hurricane assault weapon sale for looters. I'm going to check whether or not my Democrat senators and representative are gutless on this latter issue or not.
OK, fair game for a pro-Bush response, but I'm sure that Canie will appreciate it if this is limited to this thread...sorry Canie, I felt that I had to do this. It is that important.
Chris