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:
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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.
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