Dead Zone Growing Off MS Coast?

Scientists are keeping an eye on the waters off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It appears that a "dead zone" of oxygen-depleted water is spreading.

By: WKRG Staff | WKRG
Published: June 23, 2008

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GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi scientists are watching for
the possible spread of an area of oxygen-depleted water off the
Louisiana coast that could move eastward.
A recently released study suggests the dead zone could be more
than 10,000 square miles this summer. It has averaged about 6,000
square miles since 1990.
The dead zone forms as substances from farms, such as nitrogen
and phosphorous, travel down the Mississippi River or one of its
tributaries and into the Gulf of Mexico.
The fertilizers, which help plants grow on land, cause algae to
grow in the water. The algae deplete the oxygen, causing a dead
zone at the bottom of the water.