Earthquakes and rapid glacial advances are threatening southern Chile's rich fisheries

There are some 'crazy things' going on weatherwise in Antarctica and the southern tip of South America. We appear to be seeing signs of global warming and cooling at the same time. Climatologists are 'surprised' to say the least.

Last week in 'Gems,' we reported that a huge chunk of sea ice, approximately the size of Luxembourg, collided with the Mertz Glacier along the eastern coastline of Antarctica.

What's so very 'odd' is the fact that these collisions should be happening in warmer western Antarctica, not the much cooler east.

We are likewise seeing some extremely 'weird' occurrences in southern Chile to the north of Antarctica, very close to the same area that suffered a massive 8.8 earthquake recently that killed at least 1,000 people left a million homeless. On Thursday, March 11, a strong aftershock of 7.2 hit the region.

Tectonic plates are diving under southern Chile along the fringes of the South American Continent, lifting up the Andes Mountains and creating a geologically 'volatile' zone that will indeed produce an increasing number of disastrous earthquakes in the near future, possibly even greater than 9.0 on the Richter Scale.

Not only are we seeing increasing earthquake activity in southern Chile, but the country's sprawling ice fields, the world's largest outside the polar regions, are "on the move."

The enormous PIO XI Glacier, which had retreated between 1850 and 1925, is now "advancing at an alarming rate," according to scientists in the region.

Forests are being "lifted up by their roots." Giant cypress trees, some hundreds of years old, are being "toppled like dominoes" for the first time since the 'Little Ice Age.'

What was once a grass-filled valley of pasturing sheep is now a glacial lake with icebergs floating in it. Elephantine boulders of ice have been driven beneath shorelines of moss and bog plants.

There is great danger to the fisheries in the Chilean fjords, which are second only to Norway in salmon production.

The rapid movement of glaciers like PIO XI can upset the rather delicate balance between salt and fresh waters in the inner fjords of southern Chile.

No one knows exactly why PIO XI has advanced so quickly in recent years, this despite the fact that many other glaciers in southern Chile have been retreating.

It may be that PIO XI is merely recovering ground that was lost to the frequent eruptions earlier this past century of Lautaro, a major active volcano from which the Southern Chile Ice Field radiates.

But, it's the opinion of this climatologist that PIO XI is advancing primarily due to the violent tectonic upheaval of the southernmost Andes that's tied in with increasing earthquake activity in the region.

I'm taking the "wait and see" attitude. As always, time will tell.

A comment of readers' interest on my Monday, March 8 article.

Dear Mr. Harris:

You wrote, "The length of day is the exact time that it takes for the Earth to complete one rotation, 86400 seconds or 24 hours." In fact, 24 hours is the length of the 'solar day.' Suppose that the sun is over Rio (Brazil) at a certain moment. Then, the sun will be over Rio again 24 hours later.

Suppose that the star Betelgeuse (constellation Orion) is over Rio at a a certain moment one night. Then Betelgeuse will be over Rio again 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds later (to 2 significant figures) this is the length of the 'sidereal day,' Earth's rotation period.

As Earth travels in its orbit around the sun, it must turn slightly more than one revolution for a point on Earth to be aligned with the sun as it was the day before; the time required to do this is almost four minutes. During this time, Earth travels approximately a 1/365.25 part of its orbit.

John Locke,

Hayden

Thanks, John. I try to learn something new every day, whatever length it is.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

As of this writing, early Thursday, March 11, we still hadn't received any measurable amounts of snow this month at my station on Player Drive in the northwestern corner of Coeur d'Alene.

There were a few flakes of the white stuff observed both Tuesday afternoon and again early Thursday in town, but they melted as soon as they hit the ground.

No other winter season in Coeur d'Alene since at least 1895, again as of Thursday, March 11, had seen less total snowfall since Dec. 31 as the puny 2.7 inches gauged during this 2010 winter season, just 2.4 inches in January, 0.3 inches in February and a 'trace' so far in March. The previous record low snowfall total for the Dec. 31 through March 11 period was nearly triple this year's total at 7.0 inches in the same time span in 1944.

It's indeed been cold enough for snow lately in North Idaho. Early Wednesday, the mercury dipped to a frigid 19 degrees locally in Coeur d'Alene and also at Kellogg, Athol, Rathdrum and Hauser Lake. It was 20 degrees at Spirit Lake and Hayden had 21 degrees. Hard freezes reportedly nipped early blooming flowers.

There is still the chance of some additional measurable snows falling in our part of the country at the lower elevations between now and April 10.

Some unusually frigid modified Arctic air will push into the Inland Empire late this month with the arrival of the 'full moon' cycle.

If there's adequate moisture with this chilly system, we could get several inches of snow, perhaps the most since late December. But, a 'skiff' is more likely.

Longer-term, I still envision a rather cool and wet April through June spring season, if El Nino dies out. But, there will likely be some warm, sunny periods interspersed with the showers.

The summer of 2010 will probably be quite hot and dry, especially during the six-week span from mid July through late August around the time of the annual North Idaho Fair and Rodeo, my favorite summer activity.

I should have more details in the coming weeks as to the exact rate of strength decline in the current El Nino event. We will also be watching to see if a new cooler La Nina may be waiting in the 'meteorological wings.' Again, stay tuned.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. E-mail sfharris@roadrunner.com