Treasure Trove: Fishing and Regulatory Agencies
In recent years, the relationship between fishermen and regulatory agencies has grown strained as the government agencies have had to impose increasingly strict rules and regulations.
On the Coast: Human Impact on Coastlines
Like a sparkling ribbon pressed between land and ocean, the coast draws people to it the world over. In the United States, almost eighty percent of the population lives in coastal counties. Unfortunately, most human impact on coastlines is negative.
Treasure Trove: Marine Resources and Pharmaceutical Products
Among the most intriguing of all marine resources are those that have potential pharmaceutical applications. While there are significant challenges involved in harvesting marine resources for medical use, the potential for improving and even saving ...
Treasure Trove: Marine Sanctuaries
In large part to counter problems caused by overfishing, marine sanctuaries have been established at various points along United States coastlines. The concept behind these marine protected areas is much like that of a national park or wilderness re...
Surf's Up: Monitoring and Predicting Wave Processes
Wave monitoring and prediction is important not only for anticipating wave energy on the coast, but out at sea as well. With that in mind, oceanographers have devised a number of highly innovative techniques and devices.
Surf's Up: A Wind Wave's Journey
The typical ocean wave is actually a surface gravity wave, also known as a wind wave. While the notion that most waves are generated by wind blowing over the ocean surface is fairly straightforward, a wave's exact point of origin is often much less ...
Surf's Up: Internal Waves
While wind waves travel on the surface of the ocean; internal waves form beneath the surface, between water layers of different density. They can be very large and much more complex than surface waves.
The Ocean's Memory: Sediments and Past Climate
As sediments get laid down, they carry with them a record of the kind of environment in which they were formed. Scientists can read that record and learn valuable information about past climate and temperature change.
On the Coast: Impact of Geologic Activity on Coastal Zones
Exposure to varying amounts of geologic activity is one of the major reasons why each of the United States coastal zones is so distinct.
Going with the Flow: El Nino
El Nino is marked by the appearance from time to time of warm water in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. The end result of the evaporative process that follows is excessive rainfall.