The Role Of Eutrophication In The Gulf Of Mexico

Eutrophication is defined as “the process by which a body of water acquires a high concentration of nutrients, especially phosphates and nitrates” (Eutrophication, 2015). Furthermore, scientists have determined a number of human activities that may contribute to eutrophication in bodies of water such as the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico (Eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico: How Midwestern Farming Practices are Creating a Dead Zone, 2012). For example, prior to the 1950’s when rivers are channelized for navigation and flood control purposes (Eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico…, 2012). A second illustration would be “landscape alteration”, which consists of deforestation and agricultural drainage that alter nature’s runoff buffers and results in additional nutrients entering the water supply (Eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico…, 2012). A third human activity is agriculture, which often requires the usage of chemical fertilizers that leads directly to increased levels of nutrients in bodies of water.

In fact, the Gulf of Mexico is “the largest hypoxic area in the western Atlantic Ocean”, since it operates as a drainage zone for the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin that is composed of substantial rivers like the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers (Eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico…, 2012). In addition, an abundance of the nutrient nitrogen causes accelerated algae growth (algae blooms) and a decrease in the quality of a water (Eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico…,