Come to think of it, Plate Tectonics is likely the mean one
in this.  To the west across the Atlantic plate is a volcano
spewing further north east is another.  But the one in the Atlantic
is in the Eastern southern flow of the stream.  It would then
be further heated or insulated by the hot zone of water where it
turns back to the west and thence north.  This northern route
is what might be heating deep coral heads beyond the comfort
zone.  It might be there is a mixture of sulfur or other element
that is now dissolving in warmer water or exposed lately.

We won't know until someone sets out and determines the facts
and tracks down the root cause.  Seeing the effect and talking
about it is not a route to solution.  The cause holds solution.

Ah - for a fat government grant for this one!

Martin

Ross Mayhew wrote:
> One indeed wonders what is going on!!! Although one might expect warming
> to be affecting not only shallow but also deeper-water reef communities,
> there are indeed a goodly number of possibilities for the ill-health of
> this particular reef system. The report serves, i think, to highlight
> our appalling ignorance of deeper-water marine environments in general:
> we spend as a society, nearly a trillion dollars a year on wars and
> preparing for wars, but when it comes to a few million for research into
> what the world is REALLY all about, beyond the sphere of our species,
> most folks are crying poor: it seems that money can always be found for
> the things a community or country finds important..... makes one think,
> doesn;t it? In the grand scheme of things, "pure" or "basic" scientific
> research - learning about the way things work in the world and the
> universe in general, has always been rather far down the list of
> priorities for most people and societies. This high prevelance of apathy
> will catch up to us sooner or later, that much is an absolute certainty.
>
> - ross mayhew.
>
> "Martin H. Eastburn" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Thanks Ross -
>
> Since so many islands are reef based not mountain based this is
> important.
>
> However, This almost smells like a dead fish.
> Almost without fact or information - but a repeated statement
> of 'extensive loss of coral' - sounds like a "'global warmer'
> if it kills me type".
>
> I would suspect some testing of water for chemical or temp drop.
>
> Hum - off St. John - those big boats dump bilges around the world.
>
> Those traveling into Monterey Bay were watched closely.
> IIRC, The Coast Guard caught some others that traveled down coast
> and dumped offshore but within limits. With bilge tests the
> ship was caught.
>
> The report just seems to governmental nothing.
>
> Wonder what is really going on.
>
> Martin
>
> Ross Mayhew wrote:
> I pass this along because the general health of the world ocean, and
> especially of reef communities, is of extreme relevance to malacology
> and conchology - and both are in steep decline in recent decades.
>
> -Ross Mayhew.
>
> SCIENTISTS DOCUMENT DEEP-WATER CORAL MORTALITY EVENT
>
> Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in
> cooperation with researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and
> National Park
> Service, are reporting the first description of coral loss on a deep U.S.
> Caribbean reef. Their findings are reported in this month's issue of the
> journal Continental Shelf Research. The coral mortality event on a
> deep reef
> was detected off St. John in the U.S. Caribbean using a remotely operated
> vehicle (ROV) deployed from the NOAA ship Nancy Foster noted during a
> sea floor
> mapping mission in 2005. "Over the past 30 years we have seen a
> tremendous
> decrease in live coral cover on shallow reefs in the Caribbean,” said
> Mark
>
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--
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
TSRA, Life; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.
http://lufkinced.com/

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