I don't have the material at hand, but I believe that these calculations have been done for the Baltic. There is a large and growing anoxic zone which is attributed to agricultural runoff, and I am almost certain that the connection has been established through quantitative models.
And I see no reason why these effects should be localised. Bill Silvert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Esat Atikkan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 7:04 PM Subject: Re: Let's talk about the Gulf dead zone and water nutrients > The 'bacteria decomposing dead algae' thus depleting O2 model could > possibly explain local hypoxia/anoxia. However when the O2 depleted area > becomes as broad as that seen in the Gulf of Mexico or in the Pacific > Ocean, off Oregon, that model may be lacking. > > One approach would be to estimate the actual amount of such algae > reaching the bottom, and the quantity of O2 it would take to decompose > (via bacteria). > > Is anyone aware of such a quantification? > > Esat Atikkan > > William Silvert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Just to hit the first point, the reason why hypereutrophic waters tend to > have benthic dead zones is because they produce too much algae, which sink > rather than being eaten and accumulates on the bottom. There it is > degraded > by bacteria, and this is the process that sucks up the oxygen. > > Bill Silvert
