Interactive map of the Arctic

www.intothearctic.gp
is a digital, interactive map
just launched by Greenpeace
with the North Pole at its centre.

From Greenpeace

The map features a number of static and dynamic layers that visualise the beauty of the Arctic, the threats it faces and our struggle to protect it.
The Arctic is under pressure from oil companies seeking to exploit its resources.

They see the melting of the sea ice not as a warning, but as a business opportunity.

Take a journey into the Arctic and explore for yourself its natural wonders, the threat of the encroaching oil industry, and follow the struggle to Save the Arctic.

Join the North Pole Expedition and follow the team as they make their way to the pole, with frequent, near-live, updates of their position and a geoblog of all the tweets, blogs, pictures and videos.

 Mercator Septentrionalium Terrarum (1595)
first state Mercator’s map of the North Polar regions

 zoomable map

Links :

• Mercator polar : Mercator Septentrionalium Terrarum

Image of the week : Great Blue Hole in the Belize Barrier Reef

>>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

From ESA

The Lighthouse Atoll in the Belize Barrier Reef is featured in this image acquired by Japan’s ALOS satellite.
In the upper-central part of the image, an underwater sinkhole known as the Great Blue Hole appears as a dark blue circle.

Surrounded by the shallow waters of the coral reef, the Great Blue Hole measures over 300 m in diameter and about 123 m deep.
Formed when the sea level was much lower, rain and chemical weathering eroded the exposed terrain.
Water later filled the hole and covered the area when the sea level rose at the end of the ice age.

Also visible in the image are two coral islands – green with vegetation – called cayes.
The larger to the west is Long Caye, and the smaller Half Moon Caye is to the east.

As part of the Belize National Parks, the Half Moon Caye Natural Monument was the country’s first protected area.
The almost 40 sq km island is an important breeding area for the seabird, the Red-footed Booby.

The greater Belize Barrier Reef has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, but in 2009 it was put on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The reef provides a significant habitat for threatened species, including marine turtles, manatees and the American marine crocodile.

The Advanced Land Observing Satellite captured this image on 29 March 2011 with its Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer, which is designed to chart land cover and vegetation in visible and near-infrared spectral bands, at a ground resolution of 10 m.

Links :

• GeoGarage blog : Climate clues found in ancient underwater caves

Oracle team USA AC72: boat 2, all signals go

Patience is a virtue for ORACLE TEAM USA who, after two anxious days, finally get the green light to commence sailing trials on their new AC72.

All systems were go, and "17" quickly took to flight during her maiden voyage on San Francisco Bay.

Oracle AC72 boat 1 : fun on foils

Hear from the ORACLE TEAM USA crew what it's like to fly their AC72 "17" on foils, sometimes at speeds of over 40 knots, and experience the sensational acceleration from onboard.

Links :

• GeoGarage blog :  Flying sailing : Oracle Team USA AC72 - Progress and Evolution

Coelacanth genes mapped, "Living Fossil" evolved slowly

A coelacanth poses for its portrait in South Africa's Sodwana Bay.
Photograph by Laurent Ballesta, National Geographic

From NationalGeographic

In the deep sea, slow and steady wins the race—and that proverb is reflected in the genes of the coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), a new study says.

>>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

Following the discovery of coelacanths in Jesser Canyon caves off Sodwana Bay, Kwazulu-Natal, in October 2000, the diver and naturalist Laurent Ballesta, accompanied by a team of deep-sea divers, is looking -120 meters below the surface- for 'gombessa' this peaceful 2 m long giant, thought to be extinct for 70 million years and rediscovered alive in 1938.

When the study authors sequenced the ancient fish's genome, they found that its genes have been evolving more slowly than the genes of the other fish or terrestrial vertebrates they looked at, including sharks, chickens, and lungfish.
(Also see "Coelacanths Can Live Past 100, Don't Show Age?")

Coelacanth is considered the greatest zoological discovery of the twentieth century:
- It has characteristics representative of the transtition of fishes to the first early land vertebrates with four legs
- It is, with its lobe-like fins and primitive lung, a living and unexpected relic of the sea some 370 million years ago.

photo : Laurent Ballesta

In the paper, published April 18 in the journal Nature, the researchers speculate that the coelacanth's relatively unchanged deep-sea habitat, and an apparent lack of predation over thousands to millions of years, means this ancient fish didn't need to change much to survive.
(See more pictures of deep-sea creatures.)

"Living Fossil" Fish Revealed

Coelacanths live as deep as 2,300 feet (700 meters) below the sea surface, and can reach 6.5 feet (2 meters) in length.

Often referred to as a "living fossil," the coelacanth looks remarkably similar to its fossil relatives from 300 million years ago.
(See more pictures of this ancient-looking fish.)

 360 million year old fossil found in Australia

Scientists had thought the coelacanth (pronounced SEE-la-kanth) had gone extinct about 65 to 70 million years ago until a researcher stumbled on a freshly caught specimen off the coast of South Africa in 1938.

And since its discovery, about 300 individuals have been recorded in two areas in the world—near the Comoros Islands (map) off the eastern coast of Africa and in the waters near Sulawesi, Indonesia (map).

A second living species of coelacanth, Latimeria menadoensis, was also discovered in 1997 off the coast of Indonesia.
(Related: "New Species: 'Rebel' Coelacanth Stalked Ancient Seas.")

Links :

• Gombessa project
• GeoGarage blog : The man who swims with coelacanths 

French preparing for partial Northwest Passage rows

From TheExplorersWeb

In France a solo woman and a men's duo are preparing to paddle and row a partial route of the Northwest Passage in the north of Canada and Alaska.

Experienced ocean rower, Anne Quéméré is quite busy with the preparation at the moment, she told ExWeb.
According to her website she plans to paddle 3000 km in a Grand Narak kayak.
"This kayak is equipped with a rudder - in order to correct the drift due to the wind or the current – which can be fold on the rear deck during transport or when paddling in not very deep water. It is controlled with both feet thanks to a system of pedals and cables. Finally, its carrying capacity convinced me in my final choice."

Map of the route

Depending on the sea ice her route will stretch from Pond Island, Baffin Island, west to the Pacific Ocean.

Meeting Anne on their way east, Charles Hedrich and Pierre-Marie Bazin plan to start mid-June from Nome, Alaska, and row to Pond Inlet; a 6000 km voyage, Hedrich says on his website.
They expect to be 3-4 months at sea.

 training on Lac Vert Passy, Haute-Savoie (France)