MONUMENTAL GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVALS: 93% Of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Suffering From Coral Bleaching - Expert Says "WE'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS SCALE OF BLEACHING BEFORE"!

A turtle swims over bleached coral at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef.AFP-JIJI

April 21, 2016 - AUSTRALIA - Australia's Great Barrier Reef is suffering its worst coral bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of the World Heritage site affected, scientists said Wednesday, as they revealed the phenomenon is also hitting the other side of the country.

After extensive aerial and underwater surveys, researchers at James Cook University said only 7 percent of the huge reef had escaped the whitening triggered by warmer water temperatures. "We've never seen anything like this scale of bleaching before," said Terry Hughes, convenor of the National Coral Bleaching Task Force.

The damage ranges from minor in the southern areas — which are expected to recover soon — to very severe in the northern and most pristine reaches of the 2,300-km-long (1,430-mile-long) site off the east coast.

Hughes said of the 911 individual reefs surveyed, only 68 (or 7 percent) had escaped the massive bleaching event which has also spread south to Sydney Harbor for the first time and across to the west.

Researcher Verena Schoepf, from the University of Western Australia, said coral is already dying at a site she had recently visited off the state's far north coast.

"Some of the sites that I work at had really very severe bleaching, up to 80 to 90 percent of the coral bleached," she said. "So it's pretty bad out there."

Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt said it is "absolutely clear that there is a severe coral bleaching event occurring not just in the Great Barrier Reef but throughout many parts of the Pacific."


WATCH: Aerial survey of the Great Barrier Reef bleaching.

Hughes said the bleaching began in Hawaii late last year and has already affected several Pacific islands.

"Right now, New Caledonia, the Coral Sea, the northern half of the Barrier Reef and New South Wales are bleaching severely, and Western Australia is quickly catching up," he said.

Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their color.

Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonize them, but scientists warned last year that the warming effects of an El Nino weather pattern could result in a mass global bleaching event.

Hughes said while bleaching has been linked to El Ninos, which generally occur every four to six years, "it wasn't until 1998 that one finally caused a bleaching event to happen" on the Great Barrier Reef. "So the issue is global warming," Hughes said, saying the link between water temperature and the severity of the bleaching is clear.

Hughes said the impact on the Great Barrier Reef would have been even worse had not a tropical cyclone which smashed into the Pacific island of Fiji in February brought rain and cooler weather to parts of Queensland.

"If you think about it, being rescued by the vagaries of a cyclone is a fairly precarious place to be," he added.

Andrew Baird, from James Cook University's center for coral reef studies, said he had been surprised by the scale and severity of the event on the major tourist draw card, which is teeming with marine life.

"We've been expecting a really big event for a while I suppose and here it is," he said.


WATCH: The Great Barrier Reef.

Baird said because the bleaching is far less serious in the southern reaches "lots of the reef will still be in good shape."

"But the reef that's been badly affected — which is a third to a half of it — is going to take a while to recover," he said.

"And again the big question is how many of these events can it handle? And I think the answer is not many more." - Japan Times.

MONUMENTAL GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVAL: Sea Floor Next To Australia's Great Barrier Reef "Close To Collapse"!

January 01, 2013 - AUSTRALIA - Scientists have discovered a giant slab of collapsing sea floor near Australia's Great Barrier Reef which is starting to break and could eventually trigger a tsunami. The researchers, whose findings were published in the journal Nature Hazards, said the one cubic kilometre slab in the Coral Sea – dubbed the Noggin Block – "eventually will collapse".

Great Barrier Reef, Australia: Researchers have warned that a huge slab of sea floor near the Great Barrier Reef
is in the early stages of collapse and could generate a tsunami when it finally breaks off Photo: ALAMY.

The ominous slab was discovered by geologists who have been using 3-D mapping techniques to build a picture of the sea floor along the deepest parts of the reef. "It is a pretty big chunk of sea-floor [in] the very slow, early stages of starting to break away from the edge of the Great Barrier Reef," said Dr Robin Beaman, a marine geologist at James Cook University. "If it were to break away catastrophically, that is break away really quickly, what that would do is it would create a surface wave above it. It would actually cause a tsunami. That tsunami would travel across the Great Barrier Reef, it's about 70 kilometres offshore, and it would impact the local area, the North Queensland area." The Noggin Block, perched on the edge of the continental shelf, is the remnant of an ancient underwater landslide.

Dr Beaman said the slab appeared stable for now and was only likely to move in the near future if there were a trigger such as a very large earthquake nearby. While such an earthquake is "unlikely", it is possible – and the slab will in any case eventually collapse. "We don't really know when such a block might collapse," he told ABC Radio. "All I can say is sometime it eventually will." The finding marks the first discovery of an undersea landslide on the Great Barrier Reef. "We found this one large block that stood out," Dr Beaman said. "It is sitting on top of a submarine canyon, cutting into the slopes and it is in the preliminary stage of collapse We're not trying to alarm people, but we need to know it is there and what could happen when it falls." - Telegraph.

GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVAL: The Noggin Block - Enormous and Unstable Sea Slab Near Barrier Reef Could Cause Monster Tsunami in North Queensland, Australia!

December 21, 2012 - AUSTRALIA - An enormous slab of sea floor is in the early stages of collapse off north Queensland, and could generate a tsunami when it finally breaks off, researchers warn. The one cubic kilometre slab - dubbed the Noggin Block - is the remains of an ancient underwater landslide, and sits perched on the edge of the continental shelf.

A westerly view of the Great Barrier Reef margin offshore Cairns, North Queensland, showing submarine canyons
 and landslide scarps. Inset shows the approx. 1 cubic km perched block in 340 to 470 metres water depth.
Image: Dr Robin Beaman, James Cook University Source: News Limited.

Researchers discovered it while mapping the sea floor around the Great Barrier Reef. James Cook University marine biologist Robin Beaman says the slab will eventually break away from the Great Barrier Reef and when that happens it could generate a huge tsunami. "It's actually up on the top of the continental slope in about 350 metres of water,'' Dr Beaman told ABC radio. "It's a pretty big chunk of sea floor (and) is in the very slow, early stages of starting to break away from the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.

"If it were to break away catastrophically, that is break away really quickly ... it would actually cause a tsunami. "That tsunami would travel across the Great Barrier Reef, it's about 70 kilometres offshore, and it would impact the local area, the North Queensland area.'' It's estimated it would take about an hour for any tsunami to hit coastal areas such as Mourilyan Harbour and Clump Point, south of Cairns. But Dr Beaman says it's still very stable, and something like a very large earthquake near the site would be needed to trigger a catastrophic collapse any time soon. "That is very unlikely. But we should be aware that these things exist. We don't really know when such a block might collapse. All I can say is sometime it eventually will.'' - News Australia.

SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS: The Celestial Convergence - "Diamond Ring" Solar Eclipse Plunges Australia Into Darkness!

November 14, 2012 - AUSTRALIA - From boats bobbing on the Great Barrier Reef, to hot air balloons hovering over the rainforest, and the hilltops and beaches in between, tens of thousands of scientists, tourists and amateur astronomers watched as the sun, moon and Earth aligned and plunged northern Australia into darkness during a total solar eclipse Wednesday.

The Diamond Ring effect is shown following totality of the solar eclipse at Palm Cove in Australia’s
Tropical North Queensland on November 14, 2012. — Photo by AFP.

Stubborn clouds that many feared would ruin the view parted, somewhat, in north Queensland, defying forecasts of a total eclipse-viewing bust and relieving spectators who had fanned out to glimpse the celestial phenomenon. “Immediately before, I was thinking, ‘Are we gonna see this?’ And we just had a fantastic display, it was just beautiful,” said Terry Cuttle of the Astronomical Association of Queensland, who has seen a dozen total solar eclipses over the years. “And right after it finished, the clouds came back again. It really adds to the drama of it.” Spectators whooped and clapped with delight as the moon passed between the sun and Earth, leaving a slice of the continent’s northeast in sudden darkness.

Starting just after dawn, the eclipse cast its 150-kilometer shadow in Australia’s Northern Territory, crossed the northeast tip of the country and was swooping east across the South Pacific, where no islands are in its direct path. A partial eclipse will be visible from east Indonesia, the eastern half of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and southern parts of Chile and Argentina. Totality, the darkness that happens at the peak of the eclipse, lasted just over two minutes in the parts of Australia where it was visible. Gloomy weather had left many eclipse-chasers who had traveled to Australia from around the globe anxious that they wouldn’t be able to see a thing. But the clouds moved in time for many to watch as the moon blotted out the sun’s rays and cast a shadow over the tropical landscape. Skygazers crowded along palm-fringed beaches, fields and clifftops to watch the event through protective viewing glasses and homemade pinhole cameras that projected the sun’s image onto makeshift screens. Fitness fanatics gathered for the Solar Eclipse Marathon, where the first rays of the sun re-emerging from behind the moon was the starting gun. Some began partying days ago at a weeklong eclipse festival. Scientists were studying how animals respond to the eclipse, with underwater cameras capturing the effects of sudden darkness on the creatures of the Great Barrier Reef. The next total solar eclipse won’t happen until March 2015. - Dawn.

WATCH: Stunning solar eclipse over Australia.

SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS: The Celestial Convergence - Total Eclipse of the Sun! UPDATE: Total Solar Eclipse 2012 - Live Stream Of Celestial Event!

November 9, 2012 - NASA - People from around the world are converging on the coast of northeast Australia.  The attraction isn't the Great Barrier Reef, just offshore, or the surrounding rain forests full of wildlife and exotic plants. They're going to see a total eclipse of the sun.  On the morning of Nov. 14th (Australia time), about an hour after sunrise, the Moon will pass directly in front of the sun. Residents and visitors of the city of Cairns, also known as the Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, will enjoy an early morning eclipse lasting 2 minutes with the sun only 14 degrees above the eastern horizon.

NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak has a rating scheme for natural wonders.  "On a scale of 1 to 10," he says, "total eclipses are a million."  Even the reef itself will be momentarily forgotten by onlookers as the Moon's cool shadow sweeps across the beach and the ghostly tendrils of the solar corona surround the black lunar disk.  But there's more to this event than tourism. Scientists are attending, too.  For researchers, the brief minutes of totality offer a window into one of the deepest mysteries of solar physics: The mystery of coronal heating. In plain language, they'd like to know why the sun's outer atmosphere or "corona" is so hot.  The surface temperature of the sun is only 6000 degrees C.  Yet the corona above it is much warmer, a million degrees Celsius or even more. To understand the physics involved, astronomers have developed instruments called coronagraphs, which block the glare of the sun to reveal the faint corona.  Three spacecraft, SOHO and the twin STEREO probes, currently monitor the solar corona using these devices. But no manmade instrument can match Earth’s natural satellite.  The Moon is nature's greatest coronagraph. During an eclipse, "the moon reveals the innermost corona, which manmade coronagraphs have trouble seeing,” explains Shadia Habbal of the Institute for Astronomy in Hawaii.  “That is where all the magnetic field and physical processes responsible for heating the corona are evolving most rapidly."

 On Nov. 12th, Habbal will be in Palm Cove, Australia, to deliver a keynote speech at a solar physics conference sponsored in part by NASA's Living with a Star Program.  The title of her talk is "The unique scientific advantages of total solar eclipse observations."  Two days later, Habbal and her colleagues will be inside the path of totality, monitoring the eclipse with a variety of telescopes and spectrometers at 6 different wavelengths from 2 different sites.  Astronomy professor Jay Pasachoff, chair of the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Eclipses will be there, too.  He has observed an astounding 55 solar eclipses.  "The Australia eclipse will be my 56th," he notes.  Over the years, Pasachoff and colleagues have developed techniques to photograph the corona with a clarity and resolution that coronagraphs on current spacecraft cannot match.  Using these techniques, "we are learning how the wonderfully-detailed structures we see in the corona are shaped by the sun's magnetic field," he explains. The shapes vary in a regular way during the sun's 11-year sunspot cycle. “We can use this information to improve predictions of the next solar cycle."  That's a lot of science in two minutes of shadowy darkness.  After totality is over, the moon's shadow will sweep out across the South Pacific Ocean, tracing a line thousands of miles long across uninhabited waters, reaching almost, but not quite, the coast of South America. Back on the beach, scientists will be taking a first look at their data while tourists starting thinking about breakfast--and snorkeling in the reef.  For all concerned, it's a great way to begin the day. - NASA.

WATCH: Total Eclipse of the Sun.

UPDATE: Total Solar Eclipse 2012 - Live Stream Of Celestial Event!

A total solar eclipse will occur this afternoon, when the moon passes briefly between the Earth and the Sun, obscuring the solar rays and creating a 95-mile-wide shadow over parts of the Southern Hemisphere.  Only people who are lucky enough to be in northern Australia or somehow find themselves in the Indian or Pacific Oceans along the path of the eclipse -- where it will actually be early Wednesday morning -- will be able to see the celestial event.  But don't worry if you're not there in the flesh -- broadcasts of the eclipse will be available on several live streams and The CELESTIAL Convergence is documenting the event, bringing updates from astronomers and other experts, some of whom are on the ground in Australia.

WATCH: Total Solar Eclipse 2012.

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR: Disaster Precursors - Early Whale Migration in North Queensland Baffles Experts?!

Marine authorities in north Queensland say they are at a loss to explain why the annual northern whale migration has started a month early.

Humpback whales traditionally migrate to the warmer waters of the Great Barrier Reef to give birth before returning south to feed.  The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) says whales are not usually spotted until late May or early June but are already being seen off the Queensland coast.  GBRMPA spokesman Mark Read says scientists are unsure why the animals have arrived early.  He says boaties need to be mindful the whales are around early. 

"What it heralds we don't really know, but it's certainly timely to get the messages out to the key users of the marine park to look out for whales," he said.  "We just need to bear in mind that an adult humpback whale can get to 15 metres and approximately 40 tonnes in weight.  "If you're a person using the marine park and you're out there bobbing around in a little tinny, you really need to be mindful of how big these animals can be.  "Just make sure that you're acting safely in terms of minimizing the risk." - ABC Australia.