Grand Banks

The Grand Banks are an important aspect of Atlantic Canadian culture due to their economic impacts and the lesson learned by the overfishing of this area and the subsequent depletion of one of the largest fish stocks in the world. I took a Canadian history course at Mount Royal College in Calgary and we discussed the implication of the overfishing of the Grand Banks in detail and after this I understood how awful it was and how bad it looked on the Canadian government that we were not able to control this problem. The Grand Banks are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from 25 to 100 metres in depth. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here.The mixing of these waters and the shape of the ocean bottom lifts nutrients to the surface. These conditions created one of the richest fishing grounds in the world. Fish species include Atlantic cod, haddock and capelin. Shellfish include scallop and lobster. The area also supports large colonies of sea birds such as Northern Gannets, shearwaters and sea ducks and various sea mammals such as seals, dolphins and whales.
In addition to the effects on nutrients, the mixing of the cold and warm currents often causes fog in the area. Canada is currently performing the hydrographic and geological surveys necessary for claiming the entire continental shelf off eastern Canada, under the auspices of the latest United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Once this aspect of UNCLOS is ratified, Canada will presumably control these remaining parts of Grand Banks which are outside of its EEZ jurisdiction.
Petroleum reserves have also been discovered and a number of oil fields are under development in this region, most notably the Hibernia, Terra Nova, and White Rose projects; the harsh environment on the Grand Banks also led to the Ocean Ranger disaster.

Portuguese Mon O' War

Since we were discussing these creatures today in class, I decided I would make a blog on the Portuguese Mon O' War. I remember when I was younger my parents went on a cruise and when they came back they told me that there was a swing on the boat that you could swing off of to jump into the water, and an unfortunate individual jumped onto a Man O' War and was in rough shape. It is also interesting that a creature that is not a predator can be so harmful to humans.

The Portuguese Man O' War (Physalia physalis), also known as the blue bubble or bluebottle, is commonly thought of as a jellyfish but is actually a siphonophore—a colony of four sorts of polyps.The Man O' War's float is bilaterally symmetrical with the tentacles at one end, while the chondrophores are radially symmetrical with the sail at an angle. Also the Man O' War has a siphon, while the chondrophores do not. The Portuguese Man O' War has an air bladder; known also as a pneumatophore or sail, that allows it to float on the surface of the ocean. It has no means of propulsion and is pushed by the winds and the current. The sail is filled with air, but may build up a high concentration of carbon dioxide (up to 90%). The bladder must stay wet to ensure survival; every so often it may roll slightly to wet the surface of the float. To escape a surface attack, the pneumatophore can be deflated allowing the Man O' War to briefly submerge.

The sting from the tentacles is potentially dangerous to most humans; these stings have been responsible for several deaths, but usually only cause excruciating pain. Detached tentacles and specimens washed up on shore can sting just as painfully as the full creature in the water, for weeks after detachment. The venom can travel up to the lymph nodes and may cause, depending on the amount of venom, more intense pain. In extreme cases medical attention is necessary.
According to a study done by Dr. Geoffrey Isbister of Newcastle, Australia's Mater Hospital in 2003 through 2005, the best treatment for a sting is to apply hot water to the affected area. Hot water used in the study was fixed at 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). The hot water eases the pain of a sting by denaturing the toxins.
Applying ice to the area of the sting is also a fairly effective way to suppress the pain. Ice works by making the toxins less active and reduces the sensation and therefore pain of the area of skin around the ice. Additionally, ice constricts blood vessels, reducing the speed at which the poison travels to other parts of the body, including the brain; heat has an opposite effect. It was originally thought that applying ice was the best way of dealing with Man O' War stings before the study was done. Lifesavers around the world still use ice to treat the stings of this species.

(All information for this blog entry is from Wikipedia)

Zeolites of the Bay of Fundy

Zeolites are an important industrial mineral that are found in only a few areas around the world. They have very unusual chemical properties. The two main areas worldwide known for their rich zeolite abundances are in the Bay of Fundy and in the Poona Field in India. Zeolites are found in amygdaloids and veins in the North Mountain volcanic basalt formation. They are normally found in between zones of successive lava flows. The zeolites were deposited after the crystalization of the basalt and have a hydrothermal origin. The north mountain dates to the Jurassic Era, making it around 190 million years old. The north mountain is composed of many tilted layers dipping toward the Bay of Fundy, and the zeolites are normally found along the top layers of the lava flows. The basalt is exposed along the south side of the Bay of Fundy, especially near Parrsboro, and various local islands.

Zeolites have an interesting chemistry composed of hydrated aluminosilicates with alumina and silica linked with oxygen atoms. They also contain some calcium and/or sodium. Zeolites are framework silicates that are related to the feldspar family. However, they form under lower pressure and in more temperate environments. Zeolites contain ports, or open lattice structures in the zeolite molecules that make passageways. For example, in a half pound of zeolite, there is enough surface area from the pores to cover an entire football field. The pore diameter and characteristics are homogeneous. There are several types of zeolites found along the Bay of Fundy. These are:

1. Analcite which has a hardness of 5.5 and are found on Two Islands, Amethyst Cove, Cap d'Or, and Swan Creek.

2. Apophyllite which has a hardness of 4.5-5.0 and is found on Amethyst Cove, Sheffield Bluff, Isle haute, Port George, and Murray Brook. Apophylltes are not actually zeolites, but are closely related.

3. Chabazite which has a hardness of 4.5 and is found in Wassons Bluff, Partridge Island, and Moose Island.

4. Gmelinite which has a hardness of 4.5 and are found on Two Islands, Pinnacle Island, Wassons Bluff, and Partridge Island.

5. Heulandite which has a hardness of 3.4-4.0 and are found in Harbourville, Bennett Bay, Sheffield Bluff, and Wassons Bluff.

6. Mesolite which has a hardness of 4-5 and are found in Port George, Margaretsville, Halls Harbour, Amethyst Cove, and Cap d'Or.

These are just a few of the many zeolites that are found along the North Mountain.

(all information for this entry was taken by a handout from Dr. G. Pe-Piper in the department of Geology, as well as from Wikipedia).