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2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2018 Scientists discover hundreds more methane seep sites One concern is climate change By TOM BANSE Northwest News Network Ocean researchers have found nearly 1,000 methane seep sites along the continen- tal shelf of the Pacific North- west. The bubble streams could be a sign of offshore energy potential, represent a greenhouse gas threat — or be neither of those things at all. Oregon State University geophysicist Bob Embley said the discovery is “eye-open- ing” on many levels. Until a few years ago, research- ers had only documented 200 methane seeps off the Pacific Northwest coast. “Methane is a greenhouse gas,” Embley said during an interview with members of the joint Oregon State/ National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration team in Newport. “We don’t know how much, if any, is getting to the surface and into the atmo- sphere from the ocean.” So far, researchers are find- ing that most of the methane dissolves into the water col- umn before it reaches the sur- face. Initial chemical analysis of the bubble streams points to organic matter that fell to the seabed and decayed, rather than a sign of possible oil and gas reserves deep below. “I don’t think it’s anything Ocean Exploration Trust Oregon-based researchers deployed an ROV to sample methane vents off the Pacific Northwest coast this summer. valuable,” the team’s chem- istry expert, Tamara Baum- berger, said when asked if the methane bubble streams could indicate offshore energy potential for the Pacific Northwest. But one concern among scientists is that the seafloor could potentially release more methane as the ocean slowly warms due to climate change. Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than the bet- ter-known carbon dioxide. First, the team wants to systematically map the seeps on the continental shelf to establish a baseline against which to compare future observations. Advances in sonar tech- nology made it possible to efficiently survey for bub- ble streams using instruments on ships that sweep the ocean floor. The number of seep sites jumps after every survey cruise, now totaling 10 expe- ditions over the past three years, senior research assis- tant Susan Merle said. Mer- le’s database is approaching 1,000 sites from the Canadian border to Northern Califor- nia, encompassing more than 2,700 discrete methane bubble streams — a number bound to climb even higher. “We’ve only mapped about 40 percent of the Cascadia Margin,” Merle said. “Most of that mapping has been in deeper water.” Seafloor methane origi- nally drew interest when sub- mersibles photographed a solid, ice-like form called methane hydrate in deep, cold waters. There has been off-and-on commercial inter- est in seafloor methane since — mostly from Asian energy exploration companies as a potential gas resource. Still, the mining and extraction has proved to be extremely difficult. The Oregon State/NOAA team saw hydrate formations during ROV dives from the expedition ship R/V Nautilus in June and even retrieved a few samples from the seafloor. Primary funding for the project comes from the NOAA Ocean Exploration and Research Program. The researchers are based at a joint laboratory at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. The video camera on the ROV also showed how some of the methane seeps create oases on the seafloor. There, methane-eating bacteria sup- port the base of a food chain that includes sea worms, clams and fish in profusion. On both a 2016 and a 2018 cruise, the researchers dropped a sensitive underwa- ter microphone on the seabed next to a methane seep off the coast of Oregon. NOAA acoustics scien- tist Bob Dziak said the hydro- phone was deployed for short periods as a “proof of con- cept” to show how a passive acoustic tool could be used to monitor and quantify the gas flux. The rising bubbles made a distinct sound like “crack- ling bacon” or rain on a metal roof, he said. “Ultimately, my goal is to use the records to make an estimate of the volume of gas coming out,” Dziak said. Results of Dziak’s 2016 hydrophone experiment were published this spring in the journal Deep-Sea Research II. Oregon’s only heart transplant program shuts down The decision by the lead- ers of the 32-year-old pro- gram is unusual. Nationwide, only a handful of other heart transplant programs have shut down because of staffing issues or poor success rates. Baylor St. Luke’s Medi- cal Center in Houston tem- porarily closed its world-re- nowned program in June after The Houston Chronicle and ProPublica investigated the departure of several key doc- tors and an unusual number of patient deaths in a few years. Hospitals in Philadelphia, South Carolina and Nash- ville, Tennessee, also have halted their programs, but all have since reopened, The Associated Press PORTLAND — The only Oregon hospital to offer heart transplants abruptly shut down its program Fri- day, leaving nearly two dozen patients on its waitlist to seek out-of-state treatment and hundreds of others in limbo for post-operative care. It came just two days after Oregon Health & Sci- ence University in Portland said it was putting its pro- gram on hold for two weeks as it sought to replace three heart failure transplant car- diologists who had left or would be gone by the end of September. Oregonian reported earlier this week. In Oregon, the doctors are leaving for family and per- sonal reasons, OHSU said. The hospital initially said it would not accept donor hearts, do transplants or accept or evaluate new heart transplant patients for 14 days. It said, however, that the program’s remaining doc- tor could handle post-oper- ative care for patients who have already had the surgery. But Thursday, The Ore- gonian reported that the final doctor also was leaving. The hospital said in a statement Friday that all 20 patients on its waitlist will transfer to programs at other hospitals or have decided not to transfer but wait it out. OHSU said it’s aggres- sively recruiting heart spe- cialists, but it was unclear if or when the program would reopen. The University of Wash- ington said eight patients have already been accepted into its program in Seattle. An additional 327 patients who have had the surgery are being evaluated to determine the best way forward, the Oregon hospital said. Five others who were being eval- uated for possible inclusion on the heart transplant wait- list were meeting with staff to decide what to do, it said. The hospital also was encouraging patients who have left-ventricular assist devices, or LVADs, to seek care elsewhere. The devices keep the heart pumping as it weakens and are considered a bridge to a heart transplant. The hospital’s other car- diac programs and its liver, kidney and pancreas trans- plant programs were not affected. The Portland hospital per- formed 30 heart transplants last year, compared with 18 in 2016, according to federal data. There are 3,930 people awaiting new hearts on the national transplant list. The facility is not the first to run into trouble with its heart transplant program. In 2016, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Phil- adelphia paused its program for several months while it recruited new surgeons and cardiologists, the newspaper reported. The Medical University of South Carolina halted its pro- gram in 2014 after a patient died and other transplant recipients had weak hearts. It resumed the following year. St. Thomas Health in Nashville suspended its heart transplant program in 2011 when key staff left. It took five years to restart it. FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TONIGHT TUESDAY WEDNESDAY 69 51 50 Mainly clear THURSDAY 71 52 67 53 Areas of low clouds, then sun Partly sunny FRIDAY 66 54 A morning shower; otherwise, mostly cloudy Times of clouds and sun Astoria police investigate armed robbery at Dairy Queen The Daily Astorian ALMANAC REGIONAL WEATHER Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs. ASTORIA 50/69 Astoria through Sunday. Temperatures High/low ....................................... 67°/45° Normal high/low ........................... 69°/52° Record high ............................ 95° in 1972 Record low ............................. 41° in 1984 Tillamook 46/70 Salem 49/83 Newport 47/63 Sunset tonight ........................... 7:51 p.m. Sunrise Tuesday .......................... 6:40 a.m. Coos Bay Moonrise today .................................. none 51/66 Moonset today ........................... 3:14 p.m. Sep 9 Full Sep 16 Last Sep 24 Source: Jim Todd, OMSI TOMORROW'S TIDES Astoria / Port Docks Time 3:07 a.m. 2:50 p.m. Low 0.4 ft. 2.8 ft. City Atlanta Boston Chicago Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Honolulu Indianapolis Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Memphis Miami Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadelphia St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC Hi 88 92 86 76 79 88 92 58 89 91 85 98 82 92 83 93 85 88 80 92 92 88 72 73 93 Baker 41/83 Ontario 54/88 Burns 42/85 Klamath Falls 45/88 Lakeview 44/88 Ashland 52/91 REGIONAL CITIES City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newberg Newport North Bend Hi 82 80 71 81 64 86 90 78 63 65 Today Lo 41 44 54 48 52 45 54 48 47 50 W s s s s pc s s pc pc s Hi 83 80 70 83 67 88 92 84 63 65 Tues. Lo 43 45 52 52 54 46 57 52 48 50 W s s s s pc s s s s s City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Springfi eld Vancouver Yakima Hi 72 81 76 84 79 66 76 81 75 83 Today Lo 46 50 53 52 49 50 49 49 50 48 W pc s pc s s pc pc s pc s Hi 77 82 82 86 83 70 77 83 81 82 Tues. Lo 46 50 56 55 54 52 51 50 53 49 W s s s s s pc s s s s TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER NATIONAL CITIES Today Lo 73 75 72 54 69 72 71 45 79 72 70 78 65 76 78 73 79 78 67 76 74 59 56 53 78 LOTTERIES Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Tonight's Sky: Sagitta, the arrow, is between Aquila, the eagle, and Cygnus, the swan. High 5.9 ft. 8.0 ft. La Grande 43/81 Roseburg 52/86 Brookings 56/71 Oct 2 John Day 50/85 Bend 44/80 Medford 54/92 UNDER THE SKY Time 9:39 a.m. 8:51 p.m. Prineville 41/84 Lebanon 49/84 Eugene 48/83 SUN AND MOON First Pendleton 50/82 The Dalles 54/87 Portland 53/82 Precipitation Sunday ............................................. 0.00" Month to date ................................... Trace Normal month to date ....................... 0.11" Year to date .................................... 36.28" Normal year to date ........................ 38.21" New Astoria police are inves- tigating an armed robbery at Dairy Queen on Friday night. A man armed with a small pistol took an undisclosed W pc s t t t t pc c pc pc t s pc s t s t pc t pc s s pc pc pc Hi 88 87 90 78 83 90 93 55 90 91 84 96 82 92 89 93 85 92 76 93 92 87 72 74 93 Tues. Lo 72 70 72 52 66 72 71 45 78 71 70 76 65 73 78 72 76 77 67 76 72 62 56 55 78 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W pc pc s t t s pc c sh s c s pc s t s r s t s s s pc pc s Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. amount of money from the West Marine Drive restaurant just after 10 p.m., police said. The suspect was described as a thin white male, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, possibly in his mid to late 30s, wearing OREGON Sunday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 1-6-6-5 4 p.m.: 3-6-8-7 7 p.m.: 0-7-8-6 10 p.m.: 2-3-4-8 Sunday’s Lucky Lines: 02-07- 10-14-FREE-19-22-28-29 Estimated jackpot: $13,000 Saturday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 1-1-3-9 4 p.m.: 2-7-3-3 7 p.m.: 8-1-5-9 10 p.m.: 2-1-6-7 Saturday’s Lucky Lines: 01- 08-12-13-FREE-20-21-26-30 Estimated jackpot: $12,000 Saturday’s Megabucks: 14- 17-27-42-44-47 Estimated jackpot: $6.4 million Saturday’s Powerball: 11-54- 55-61-66, Powerball: 9, Power Play: 3 Estimated jackpot: $90 million Friday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 3-8-3-1 4 p.m.: 7-9-9-7 7 p.m.: 2-5-0-6 10 p.m.: 8-1-8-0 Friday’s Lucky Lines: 02-06- 10-16-FREE-17-24-28-29 Estimated jackpot: $11,000 Friday’s Mega Millions: 07- 18-29-32-45, Mega Ball: 17, Megaplier: 3 Estimated jackpot: $152 million WASHINGTON Sunday’s Daily Game: 2-2-3 Sunday’s Keno: 02-08-09-13- 18-20-27-34-36-37-40-47-54- 64-65-69-70-73-78-79 Sunday’s Match 4: 08-09-14- 18 Saturday’s Daily Game: 5-2-3 Saturday’s Hit 5: 01-06-07- 23-33 Estimated jackpot: $160,000 Saturday’s Keno: 02-04-14-15- 20-25-26-27-34-35-40-42-46- 57-58-69-71-74-76-80 Saturday’s Lotto: 04-05-17- 21-31-33 Saturday’s Match 4: 08-10- 19-22 Friday’s Daily Game: 6-7-1 Friday’s Keno: 07-10-13-14- 17-20-26-29-34-38-44-46-51- 53-54-63-66-67-69-73 Friday’s Match 4: 09-12-14-24 The Daily Astorian Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503- 325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 www.dailyastorian.com MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper. SUBSCRIBER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. blue jeans with a blue hooded sweatshirt pulled over his face, police said. People with information about the suspect or the rob- bery can call Detective Ken Hansen at 503-325-4411. PUBLIC MEETINGS TUESDAY Seaside Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Cen- ter,1225 Avenue A. Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m., Seaside Library, 1131 Broadway. Miles Crossing Sanitary Sewer District Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Business. Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Seaside Planning Commis- sion, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. CORRECTION First name incorrect — Rod Zweber is the owner of property at the corner of U.S. Highway 30 and Hillcrest Loop Road in Knappa, the site of a proposed Dollar General. A 1A story on Aug. 27 incor- rectly referred to him as Rob. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Effective July 1, 2015 HOME DELIVERY MAIL EZpay (per month) ................$11.25 EZpay (per month) ............... $16.60 13 weeks in advance ........... $36.79 13 weeks in advance ........... $51.98 26 weeks in advance ........... $70.82 26 weeks in advance ......... $102.63 52 weeks in advance ......... $135.05 52 weeks in advance ......... $199.90 Circulation phone number: 503-325-3211 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Daily Astorian become the property of The Daily Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2018 by The Daily Astorian. Printed on recycled paper
