Category Archives: Education

A hub of research activity at Race Rocks today.

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A lot of activity was going on today in the reserve.  Guy drove out myself and Laura Verhegge and several others to attend to equipment  at Race Rocks. Already there was a crew with Kevin of Oceans Network Canada who were reinstalling the CODAR sea surface monitor. This was last commented on in a log on  September 28 Also accompanying us was Ed Weibe, of the UVic School of Earth and Ocean Sciences — EOS 110 Labs Vancouver Island School-Based Weather Station Network http://victoriaweather.ca , who monitors the  Davis weather station for our weather page on this site and the UVic Schools  Weather program.  He was there to change the humidity sensor and check on the equipment.  Lucinda Leonard was along to take down the GPS earthquake monitoring equipment after its successful deployment for the past week.  (See the May 10 log)

 

The other activity going on was the installation of a CODAR  monitor by the crew with Kevin from Oceans Network Canada.

GPS Survey for Earthquake Hazard Assessment on Southern Vancouver Island

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I accompanied Lucinda Leonard and two students from UVIc  Megan Caston and Yijie Zhu – they are both working towards Masters degrees in Geophysics, working on earthquakes and faults to Race Rocks along with 6 students from Pearson College for the installation of two GPS stations. Many years ago , perhaps as early as 1991, this plug had been installed a meter in front of the Camera 5 location , and it had not been rechecked since.  Laas was able to get this picture of it to verify that it was still there .

gps marker

The following is the research proposal by Lucinda Leonard, Assistant Professor (Geophysics) School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 2Y2

GPS Survey for Earthquake Hazard Assessment on Southern Vancouver Island

Participants: Lucinda Leonard, Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria
Julie Elliott, Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Yan Jiang, Research Scientist, Natural Resources Canada, and Adjunct Professor, University of Victoria 2-3 students will also take part in the fieldwork.

Objectives:

(1) To quantify seismic hazard of crustal faults on southern Vancouver Island. (2) To improve understanding of crustal deformation in subduction zone forearcs.

Scope of fieldwork:

The research project will establish and survey a relatively dense network of high-precision Global Positioning System (GPS) sites across fault zones on southeastern Vancouver Island that may host significant earthquakes. The 2018 survey will involve temporary instrument deployments at a number of pre-existing survey markers as well as new markers emplaced in bedrock. We anticipate future deployments every 1-2 years over the next 5-10 years.

Rationale:

Southeastern Vancouver Island is a region of high seismic hazard due to its location above the Cascadia subduction zone – the region is susceptible to damage from: earthquakes on the Cascadia megathrust fault offshore (magnitude ~9; similar to the devastating 2011 tsunamigenic Japan earthquake), deep earthquakes beneath the Salish Sea and Puget Sound (up to magnitude ~7; e.g., 2001 earthquake in Nisqually, Washington, that caused minor damage in Victoria), and earthquakes on poorly-understood shallow crustal faults (up to magnitude ~7.5; similar to the 2011 damaging earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand). Crustal earthquakes, although smaller in magnitude than megathrust events, may produce strong shaking in urban areas due to their shallow source and possible close proximity. Modelling of a scenario crustal earthquake beneath the City of Victoria estimates extensive damage to 64% of building stock, 75% of the water pipeline system, and 90% of the sewer pipeline system in the city (VC Structural Dynamics Ltd., 2016).

Crustal faults remain poorly understood in the region, although recent progress includes the identification of surface-rupturing Holocene earthquakes on the Leech River fault (Morell et al., 2017) and its likely offshore equivalent, the Devil’s Mountain fault (Barrie and Greene, 2018). Fault mapping and trenching are important to determine the maximum magnitude of past and future earthquakes on individual fault strands, but these methods cannot provide accurate estimates of slip rates on fault zones, as required for input into seismic hazard assessments. GPS surveying can be used to track the relative motion of survey markers over time; a sufficiently dense GPS network can be further used to identify the location of active faults and to quantify their slip rates (e.g., Marechal et al., 2015). The existing network of continuous GPS stations on southeastern Vancouver Island is inadequate for this purpose, e.g., there are only three stations within 20 km of the active Leech River fault zone. Campaign-style deployments, repeated every 1-2 years over a time-span of 5-10 years, will provide the greater density of survey locations needed to assess strain build-up on fault zones. Several sites were established in 1991 and re-surveyed in 1996 (Henton, 2000; Mazzotti et al. 2003) – we propose to re-occupy these sites, where possible, and to establish a denser network of campaign GPS sites for temporary deployments (2-4 days at each site).

1

Methodology
Site locations:
Site requirements: accurate GPS positioning (to within 1 mm) requires the GPS antenna to have a good view of the sky in order to maximize the satellite signals received. It also requires a marker to be emplaced in a stable substrate, ideally bedrock. Thus bedrock hilltops provide optimum site locations. In this region, many optimal locations are located within parks.

Proposed deployments include 5 pre-existing sites, in addition to ~16 new sites, at an average of ~3 km spacing perpendicular to the Leech River fault zone and adjacent faults offshore (Figure 1; Table 1). The greater number of sites to the north of the fault zone reflects greater accessibility over a larger land area in this region.

Figure 1. Proposed locations of campaign GPS sites. Also shown are the locations of continuous GPS sites, pre-existing campaign GPS sites, and mapped faults.

Table 1. Locations of existing and proposed GPS campaign sites available by contacting the research proponenet

For a continuous period of 2-4 days at each site (maximum of once per year), a 1.7-m high mast with GPS antenna will be set up over an existing or new marker in the bedrock at each site, attached by cable to a receiver in a locked box on the ground. During deployment, the mast will be secured to the anchors using chains (Fig. 2a). At sites not conducive to the mast set-up, a tripod (Fig. 2b) or spike mount (Fig. 2c) will be used instead. New sites will be established by using epoxy to fix stainless steel marker pins into the bedrock. These will penetrate 6 inches into the rock, with a diameter of 0.5 inches, to lie flush with the ground surface. For mast sites, three stainless steel anchor bolts will also be bolted into the rock to a depth of ~2 inches, each attached to a 2-inch diameter stainless steel ring flush to the ground, at a distance of ~0.5 m from the central marker.

Approximate schedule for 2018 fieldwork:

The fieldwork will be carried out in August 2018, with each site being surveyed for 2-4 days. The proposed schedule is shown in Table 2 below, although actual dates may differ.

Table 2. Approximate schedule for fieldwork in August 2018 Approx. Dates Tasks

Aug 1 Aug 2 Aug 3 Aug 4 Aug 5 Aug 6 Aug 7 Aug 10

Aug 11 Aug 12 Aug 13 Aug 14 Aug 15 Aug 16 Aug 17 Aug 18

Team 1: Deploy PBHY, HIGH, SHER
Team 1: Deploy MLHT, TOLM, check others, babysit TOLM
Team 1: Stay at TOLM, check others
Team 1: Babysit TOLM, Demob PBHY, HIGH, TOLM (after 5 pm) Team 1: Demob MLHT, Deploy HAVN
Team 1: Check HAVN
Team 1: Demob HAVN after 5 pm
Team 1: Paperwork; deploy BEAR, STEW
Team 2: Deploy BBEC, DEVO, MILL
Team 1: Deploy OAKH, DOUG, check BEAR, STEW, babysit DOUG Team 2: Deploy PEDD, check BBEC,DEVO, MILL
Team 1: Babysit DOUG, check STEW, OAKH, BEAR
Team 2: Check DEVO, PEDD, BBEC, MILL
Team 1: Demob STEW, BEAR, Babysit DOUG then demob after 5 pm Team 2: Demob BBEC, DEVO, MILL
Team 1: Demob OAKH, Deploy THET, DISC (by boat)
Team 2: Demob PEDD, deploy LONE, CAMO
Team 1: Deploy WELS, MOSS, SUMM
Team 2: Deploy OBSV, check LONE, CAMO
Team 1: Check WELS, THET, MOSS, SUMM
Team 2: Check LONE, CAMO, OBSV
Team 1: Demob DISC (boat), THET
Team 2: Demob LONE, CAMO
Team 1/2: Demobilize WELS, MOSS, SUMM, OBSV

4

Plans for on-site security, site control and general safety?

The deployment of passive GPS equipment poses little risk to the public. Flagging will be placed on the equipment to mitigate any potential tripping hazards. Signs will be posted at all sites, with the following text (correct dates to be inserted): “Surveying for earthquake hazard study in progress from August 3-6 – please do not disturb. For more information, please contact Lucinda Leonard, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria: 778-676-9621 or lleonard@uvic.ca”. At locations that are popular with the public, sites will be manned during daylight hours. Sites that see less pedestrian traffic will be visited 1-2 times per day during the deployment.

Data processing and analysis:

Geodetic data will be processed using standard routines to determine precise daily average locations for each site. Positional time series will be analyzed to provide site motions (direction and rate of motion) in a North America reference frame. Analysis of relative motion between sites will enable determination of strain across fault zones and improve seismic hazard assessment for southern Vancouver Island.

References:

Barrie, V., and H. G. Greene (2018), The Devils Mountain Fault zone: an active Cascadia upper plate zone of deformation, Pacific Northwest of North America, Sedimentary Geology, v. 364, p. 228-241, doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2017.12.018.

Henton, J.A. (2000), GPS studies of crustal deformation in the northern Cascadia subduction zone. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. Victoria, Victoria B.C., Canada, 169p.

Marechal, A., S. Mazzotti, J.L. Elliott, J.T. Freymueller, and M. Schmidt (2015), Indentor-corner tectonics in the Yakutat-St. Elias collision constrained by GPS, Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 120, p. 3897-3908, doi: 10.1002/2014JB011842.

Mazzotti, S., H. Dragert, J. Henton, M. Schmidt, R. Hyndman, T. James, Y. Lu, and M. Craymer (2003), Current tectonics of northern Cascadia from a decade of GPS measurements. J. Geophys. Res. 108(B12):2554.

Morell, K. D., C. Regalla, L. J. Leonard, C. Amos, and V. Levson (2017), Quaternary rupture of a crustal fault beneath Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, GSA Today, v. 27, no. 3.

VC Structural Dynamics Ltd. (2016), Citywide seismic vulnerability assessment of the City of Victoria, Report prepared for the corporation of the City of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, 43p, available online at: http://www.victoria.ca/assets/Departments/Emergency~Preparedness/Documents/Citywide- Seismic-Vulnerabilities-Assessment.pdf

See the follow-up  when the instrument was removed on the May 15 log

CODAR installation for Race Rocks

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Juan de Fuca _CODAR_backgrounder

Today Guy drove me out to Race Rocks with Kevin Bartlett, Marine Equipment, Specialist with Ocean Networks Canada. They had installed equipment earlier in the year but had ro change the frequency of broadcasting before it is operational. Kevin was making repairs, one being fixing the conduit at the base of the tower which had been disturbed by sealions. When this equipment is fully operational it will give acurate current vectors for the eastern entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

 

 

Sample from a similar station now  in operation:

 see animation here

 

 

 

It was has been noticeable this year that instead of hauling out on the neighbouring islets of the Race Rocks Archipelago, the sealions are hauled out entirely on the main island of Great Race Rock. They have heavily impacted the vegetated areas .

Dr. Anita Brinkmann-Voss…. In Memoriam

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Dr. Anita Brinckmann-Voss passed away on December 12 at her home in Sooke BC. Anita had been a long time friend of Lester B. Pearson College. From 1986, to 2005,  Dr. Anita Brinckmann-Voss  BC assisted the students and faculty of Lester Pearson College with her understanding of marine invertebrate ecology and her expertise in the taxonomy of hydroids and other invertebrates. Anita was one of the very few remaining taxonomists in the world who worked at such depth with this group of organisms.  She assisted many students with their work in biology and marine science and worked closely with several divers at the college who collected specimens for her.  Anita also was a regular donor to the Race Rocks program at the college.

Dr. Dale Calder, a colleague of Anita who works with the Royal Ontario Museum wrote the following about Anita:

“I knew of Dr. Anita Brinckmann-Voss and her research on hydrozoans from my days as a graduate student in Virginia during the 1960s. Her work at the famous Stazione Zoologica in Naples, Italy, was already widely known and respected.
Most noteworthy, however, was a landmark publication to come: her monumental monograph on hydrozoans of the Gulf of Naples, published in 1970. It highlighted studies on hydrozoan life cycles and was accompanied by the most beautiful illustrations of these marine animals that have ever been created. See the complete copy with color plates here:  Brinckmann70:

 

It was not until 1974, and the Third International Conference on Coelenterate Biology in Victoria, British Columbia (BC), Canada, that I met her for the first time. We discovered having common scientific interests and saw absolutely eye-to-eye on most issues. It was the beginning of a scientific collaboration and friendship that would last a lifetime. I always greatly valued her scientific insights, but I also appreciated her humility, good nature, and keen sense of humour.

In having moved from Europe to Canada, first to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and later to Toronto, Ontario, Anita’s research shifted from Mediterranean species to those of Canadian waters and especially British Columbia. Her professional base became the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto, but it was far from the ocean. She soon acquired a residence in Sooke, BC, conveniently located on the beautiful Pacific coast. Life cycle research was now possible on Canadian species, and at times several hundred cultures of hydrozoans were being maintained by her. One final move was made, from Ontario to permanent residence at her cottage in Sooke. From there she kept marine research underway the rest of her life. A focus became Race Rocks and the rich hydrozoan fauna inhabiting the site.

Anita altered the direction of my career in a most positive way. It was largely thanks to her that I moved from employment as a benthic ecologist in South Carolina to a curatorial position at the Royal Ontario Museum in 1981. It was the best career move of my life. Thank you, Anita!

Over the decades we collaborated in research, shared our libraries, and jointly authored several scientific papers. Outside a professional association, we were close friends. My wife and I often visited Anita at her homes, first in Pickering, Ontario, near Toronto, and later in Sooke. In return, she often visited us in Toronto after moving west. It is an understatement to say she will be sorely missed.”
-(Quote from Dr. Dale Calder, ROM, 2018)

Links to her work with the college:
https://www.racerocks.ca/dr-anita-brinckmann-voss/

Other references: https://www.racerocks.ca/tag/anita-brinckmann-voss/

Anita Brinckmann-Voss’s scientific contributions while affiliated with Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Canada) and other places

 

 

Pearson Students and Brands

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots NE, later West
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • Saw two branded California sea lions.
  • U400 and U714.
  • Discovered a couple of recently deceased juvenile sea gulls.
  • Cause of death unknown.

Maintenance

  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • Lots of ecotours today.
  • One appeared to be going over the speed limit within the edge of the reserve.
  • Several times there were at least 3 in the Middle Channel.
  • Kyle brought two loads of students out in Second Nature.
  • One small boat was observed fishing illegally within the Rockfish Conservation area.
  • They were reported to the DFO.

Visitors

  • Kyle, Laura, 14 Pearson students, and 3 filmmakers came out.
  • The students were supposed to be doing wind and wave measurements, but Race Rocks was providing very little in that department today.

Other

  • Six pair of small DND blastings today.
  • They took place early in the hour, every hour, from the 10th until the 15th.

The Grand Sailboat Regatta

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Weather

  • Visibility: 8 miles in the early morning, 15 later on
  • Wind: 15-20 knots East, then North, then West
  • Sky: foggy and overcast, then sunny, then overcast
  • Scattered raindrops throughout the day
  • Water: mostly calm, with swells in the afternoon

DSC_6437

Ecological

  • Maya and Tazi conducted 4 intertidal transects today.
  • Studying an intertidal transect involves measuring out a certain distance from a peg, and then documenting the different species found every 0.5 metre.
  • In some transects the 0.5 metres are measured by water elevation; in others simply by distance.
  • By comparing the species found in every zone of the transect with transect data from previous decades, you can see the change in intertidal ecosystems due to climate change.
  • We saw a California Sea Lion with the brand U374 and another with a tracker.
  • While most of the gull eggs all look the same, one particular egg is quite different.

Maintenance

  • Maya and I ran the fire pump in the morning.
  • This added a few inches to the cistern.
  • We removed the old Canadian flag and hoisted a fresh one.
  • Tazi and I removed some algae.
  • Ali whacked away at the thistles.
  • We cleaned the solar panels.

Boats

  • Over 150 sailboats from Victoria passed by Race Rocks in the late morning on their way towards the Western horizon.
  • Some of them started to return as late as 22:30.
  • The colours of their sales included: red, blue, white, fluorescent yellow, green, purple, black, orange, and many combinations of all of the above.
  • Some standouts included the Miles Davis sail and the Union Jack.
  • I couldn’t stop taking photos and ended up with dozens. Below is a selection of the best.
  • One coastguard zodiac and a search and rescue boat appeared to be accompanying the sailboats.
  • Several eco-tours came by, including one Eagle Wings tour that drove through the South Channel.
  • Passing through the South Channel is prohibited as the width is too narrow.

Transect Peg Locations on Great Race Rocks

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Expand this map of Great Race Rocks in order to see the numbered pegs in red around the shoreline. Some of these pegs were intended as intertidal locators, and some as subtidal tethering pegs. The ones with question marks still need to be located to be sure.

Some of the  pegs were established pre-1980 and some were established after 2000.

centrelargeandislepegs
Peg 1: off west side of jetty end- subtidal
Peg 2: off point of bay west of jetty–subtidal
peg 3: further along north side– subtidal
peg 4: off base of cliff– subtidal (proved impractical because of high current)
peg 5: inter and subtidal
peg 5a:later installation- inter and subtidal
peg 5b: later installation-inter and subtidal
peg 6: for tidepool locator and intertidal and subtidal
peg 7: for subtidal minimal use
peg 8: for subtidal not used
peg 9: for subtidal not used
peg 9 : for subtidal not used
peg 10: for subtidal not used
peg 11: subtidal not used as too close to old outfall.
peg 12 inter and subtidal
peg 13: used for annual intertidal algae stratification lab exercise.
peg 14: subtidal- outer extreme North East corner.
peg 14b: inter and subtidal concrete mound with stainless steel hole for peg – inter and subtidal
peg 15: large boat mooring post — used for intertidal lab exercises
peg 15a: inter and subtidal concrete mound with stainless steel hole for peg – inter and subtidal

From peg 5 and 5a:
See Transect A0050101
See Transect A0050102
See Transect A0050103

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Return to the Contents page for Environmental modelling with Transects..

Golden Day at Race Rocks.

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This morning dawn came with a mostly overcast sky and fog distant. It cleared by late morning and stayed sunny, only clouding over in the early evening. The wind was light, less than 10 knots and easterly all day. The barometer was up to 2022 earlier and is falling now. The forecast includes a strong wind warning for tonight. Thursday is expected to be sunny with a few clouds.

Four whale watching vessels were observed working in the protected area today. Several sport fishers passed through. The salmon gillnet fleet and packers passed through Race Passage heading east. There was a big swell during the morning and early afternoon.

Second Nature brought one of the Pearson College student dive teams today and the students who got into the water had a fantastic dive. Not only were they able to observe and film the incredible richness of this biodiversity hotspot, they were also visited underwater by curious sea lions.

Several new sea lion brands were noted today including Californians U20, U503, U363 and U844. One of the California Sea Lions made it right up to camera #5 today. By the time I got outside with the blog camera, he was already descending.

I noted the other day that I hadn’t noticed cookie Cutter Shark scars on the Steller’s Sea Lions. Well since I made that remark I am seeing theme everywhere, so take that back.

On the bird front, we had a little female American Goldfinch visit today. It landed on the thistles right in front of me over by the tower. Also on the bird front a suspected Brandt’s Cormorant with two leg tags was spotted today; yellow on the left leg and white on the right leg. There was also a strange bird amongst the Brandt’s Cormorants that I was hoping would be the Brown Booby that has been floating around out here.

 

Chores were routine and in preparation for the new eco-guardian crew coming out tomorrow. There were nine people on board Second Nature.