| Unusual earthquakes off the Oregon coast
Posted: 4/15/2008 8:21:09 PM | Over 600 hundred quakes of the Oregon coast. I was wonder if we are having the development of a new volcano off the Oregon coast. Anyone have any knowledge of the activity, or first hand information? I live in Eugene for several years. | |
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| Unusual earthquakes off the Oregon coast
Posted: 4/16/2008 5:04:19 AM | This is the extent of the information which I've read and heard about it.
Apperantly, the Pacific Plate and the North American Plates collide just off the coast... and there is this little piece which is not a part of either plate which is stuck in the middle of the two at this point off the Oregon coast. The piece that is not of either plate is constantly under pressure from both sides, and is rattling around violently... but in small amounts. It could simply be an increase in these violent shakings, or magma making its way along openings or weak points between these faults.
I don't think a volcano will form... but I could be wrong.
--Brandon | |
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| Unusual earthquakes off the Oregon coast
Posted: 4/16/2008 11:00:47 AM | | With this magma warming the water, do you think it has anything to do with the sudden decrease in the salmon population along the Northwest coast line? | |
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| Unusual earthquakes off the Oregon coast
Posted: 4/17/2008 8:42:00 AM | Any magma rushing to the surface and actually being exposed to seawater would produce drastic explosions and even steam which would reach the surface. I don't think the magma underground is interacting with the seawater at all, but I could be wrong. It is possible that there are gysers underwater which could be heating the water a bit... but not in any amount that would influence salmon.
The currents which warm and cool the Pacific ocean push a huge volume of water a few hundred feet every second. Any heat at the ocean floor would instantly dissipate from its interaction with cooler water... and because of the current, the ocean wouldn't warm in one specific area; especially at the floor of the ocean. To top that off, Salmon have a range which covers the entire ocean... so any abnormality in their numbers is a result of a massive change across the entire Pacific ocean; and most specifically I blame India and China.
India's pollutants are mostly in the form of fly-ash and wood-burning stove particles. The massive cloud of their pollutants stretches nearly halfway across the Pacific before settling down and being absorbed by the Ocean. Top that off with China's "black rivers" of toxic, hazardous, and even poisonous waters... and you've got an entire coastline on that side of the Pacific Ocean with diminished food supplies that the Salmon need to gro large and outrun predators as they make their way back into the Northern part of the Pacific and eventually back into North American freshwater rivers and streams. This is the course they make over their lifetime.
Add in the overfishing of Salmon as they return to their spawning grounds, and you see the problem. Not enough fish being born because of overfishing before the previous spawning season, not enough of them growing to maturity because of diminished food supplies due to pollution, and lack of size and speed to outrun predators... and overfishing as they return to their spawning grounds. I'm also not even mentioning the possibility that global warming has influenced their food supplies and possibly the size or number of predators in the ocean; or even moved their migration path into areas where predators are naturally abundant.
I think the best decision was to halt commercial Salmon fishing this year... maybe next year they could do it too. If they did, you'd see a nice large return of mature Salmon to the North American streams.
I don't think the underwater quakes off the Oregon coast are to blame.
--Brandon | |
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| Unusual earthquakes off the Oregon coast
Posted: 4/20/2008 9:28:40 AM | | Thanks for your reply. Very interesting, indeed. As for the salmon problem it is localized off the Oregon and California coast due to poor catches and believed warming of the waters, possible because of the climate change. The disappearance is drastic and quick to appear, not a natural occurrence in my eyes; however pollution is not supposed to be a problem. The current is swift and salmon travel near the surface. NMO | |
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