|
 |
What lies below? posted by Denise on 14 Feb 2005 |
 |
|
Happy Valentine’s Day! Today is our last day working in Poverty Bay. We are using instruments to look at the salinity, temperature and turbidity in the water column to help understand how sediment is transported in ocean. |
|
Interview with Michael Dail posted by Denise on 13 Feb 2005 |
|
|
Denise: We’ve just finished up a core and are waiting for the next one. Mike, can you tell me where you’re from?
Mike: I’m from Northern Virginia, just outside Washington D.C. and go to school at East Carolina University (in Greenville, North Carolina).
|
« Later 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Earlier »
 |
|
 |
View from space of ocean floor around New Zealand.
The turquoise area is a narrow strip of shallow (<2000 m) ocean also known as the continental margin. |
Although viewed by most as remote, removed, and perilous, the oceans are home to a world of deep beauty and are a great source of food and other natural resources (e.g., oil). In addition, they are a fascinating place to recreate and explore. Exploration and examination of the oceans is critical to finding new resources and learning about Earth history (and possibly the future). Furthermore, the oceans, which cover over two-thirds of the planet’s surface, are a processing factory for materials draining from land. |
| Ocean study is needed to understand how activities and events on land are processed and recorded in the sea, and this is the primary focus of our research in New Zealand. This research is funded by the Source to Sink - MARGINS program of the National Science Foundation.
Why the Waipaoa River in New Zealand?
Unlike the eastern coast of the United States (e.g., North Carolina) which has a broad coastal plain, many coastlines around the world have rugged mountains immediately next to the sea and lack bodies of water (e.g. Pamlico Sound) between rivers and the ocean. The northeast coast of New Zealand, where the Waipaoa River enters the sea, is one example. In these settings, materials from land can be rapidly transported to the ocean, and as a result sediments and dissolved material may quickly accumulate on the ocean floor and affect ocean ecosystems after river flooding. Also, the Waipaoa River discharges an incredible amount of sediment for a river its size. This is because of high rainfall in the area and its easily eroded landscape, which is made of sedimentary rocks. In fact, the Waipaoa River is more than 10 times smaller than the Potomac River but discharges 100 times more sediment!
|
|
 |
|
 |
Coordinating Institutions
|
