INVESTIGATING THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

Thehydrologic
,alsoknown,as
thewater
cycleortheH
Ocycle,d
escribesthe
2
continuousmovementofwateron,above
andbelowthesurfaceoftheEarth.The
amountofwaterintheworldremains
constant,butitisequallydividedbetween
portionsoffreshwaterlakesandrivers,sea
water,andatmosphericwater.

Deadzone,GulfofMexico
Deadzonesarelowoxygenareasinoceansandlakes.Theiroxygenisdepletedby
constantpollutionanddestructivehumanactivity.Becauseofthelackofoxygen,those
bodiesofwaterbecomeunabletosupportmarinelife.Aquaticandmarinedeadzones
canbecausedbyanincreaseinchemicalnutrientsinthewater,knownas
eutrophication.Eutrophicationcanleadtorapidincreasesinthedensityofcertaintypes
ofthesephytoplankton,aphenomenonknownasanalgalbloom.Onceanalgalbloom
occurs,theabundanceofalgaeincreasestherateofalgaedecay,andinturncausing
thedeadzones.

LowoxygenlevelsrecordedalongtheGulfCoastofNorthAmericahaveledto
reproductiveproblemsinfishinvolvingdecreasedsizeofreproductiveorgans,lowegg
countsandlackofspawning.Itmightbeexpectedthatfishwouldfleethispotential
suffocation,buttheyareoftenquicklyrenderedunconsciousanddoomed.Slowmoving
bottomdwellingcreatureslikeclams,lobstersandoystersareunabletoescape
.
Dead

zonesarereversible,thoughnumerousextinctorganismsthatarelostduetoits
appearancearenot.

Deadzoneswerefirstrecordedinthe1970s,onemostprominentlocationbeingthe
GulfofMexico.
Thisarea

oftemporaryhypoxicbottomwater,occursmostsummersoff
thecoastofLouisianaintheGulfofMexicoisthelargestrecurringhypoxiczoneinthe
UnitedStates.TheMississippiRiver,whichisthedrainageareafor41%ofthe
continentalUnitedStates,dumpshighnutrientrunoffsuchasnitrogenandphosphorus
intotheGulfofMexico.

Shrimptrawlersfirstreporteda'deadzone'in
theGulfofMexicoin1950butitwasn'tuntil
1970whenthesizeofthehypoxiczonehad
increasedthatscientistsbegantoinvestigate.
Thesizevariesannuallyfromarecordhighin
2002whenitencompassedmorethan21,756
sqkilometerstoarecordlowin1988of39sq
kilometers.The2015"DeadZone"measured
16,760squarekilometers

TheMississippiRiveranditstributariesdrain41percentoftheUnitedStatesandcarry
thenutrientsthatcausetheGulfsdeadzone.TheNationalOceanicandAtmospheric
Administration,orNOAA,whichfundedthescientists'research,estimatesthatthedead
zonecostsU.S.seafoodandtourismindustries$82millionayear.Theimpactcouldbe
devastatingtotheGulf'sseafoodindustry,whichaccountsformorethan40percentof
thenation'sseafood.TheMississippiRiver,itstributariesandfloodplains,andtheGulf
areaninnerconnectedsystemthataffectsandisaffectedbypeople.Wemustwork
collaborativelytofindsolutionsthataddresstheconnectivityofthissystemsolutions
thatbenefitpeopleandnature.

Citation:
1. [diagram].Retrievedfromhttp://www.state.nj.us/drbc/hydrological/
2. [satelliteimage].Retrievedfrom
http://www.lakescientist.com/deadzoneinthegulfisexpanding/
3. RobertSimmon&JesseAllenNASAEarthObservatory.Retrievedfrom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_(ecology)#/media/File:Aquatic_Dead_Zo
nes.jpg
4. NorthernGulfofMexicoHypoxicZone|GulfofMexicoHypoxia,Mississippi
Basin|USEPA.(n.d.).Retrievedfrom
http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/named/msbasin/zone.cfm
5. Deadzone(ecology)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia.(n.d.).Retrieved
September4,2015,fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_(ecology)
6. GulfofMexicoDeadZone|TheNatureConservancy.(n.d.).Retrievedfrom
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/areas/gulfofmexico/expl
ore/gulfofmexicodeadzone.xml
7. Retrievedfrom
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04/lakeeriealgaebloom2014_n_56478
24.html
8. WatercycleWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia.(n.d.).RetrievedSeptember4,
2015,fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle