What is the source of the pollution causing the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico?
What will be an ideal response?
Water draining into the Mississippi River and its tributaries from farms, cities, factories, and sewage treatment plants in this huge basin contains sediments and other pollutants that end up in the Gulf of Mexico. Each spring and summer, huge quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus plant nutrients-mostly nitrates and phosphates from crop fertilizers-overfertilize the coastal waters of the U.S. states of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. This excess of plant nutrients leads to an explosive growth of phytoplankton (mostly algae). They eventually die, sink to the bottom, and are decomposed by hordes of bacteria that consume oxygen as part of their aerobic respiration. This depletes most of the dissolved oxygen in the Gulf's bottom layer of water.
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What are the primitive organisms thought to have been responsible for the development of Earth’s oxygen-rich
atmosphere in the Precambrian? a. tillites b. cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) c. foraminifera d. diatoms e. prokaryotes
When air moves from the ocean onto land:
A) curved flow is initiated. B) the winds tend to increase their speed. C) converging winds and ascending air result over the land. D) divergence and subsidence occur over the land.
In addition to northern latitudes, patches of tundra-like plant communities are also found
A. in marshes. B. in cold deserts. C. on mountain tops. D. in bogs.
Ferromagnesian minerals (like olivine and pyroxene) that crystallize at high temperatures in Bowen's reaction series are generally much less susceptible to chemical weathering than quartz
Indicate whether the statement is true or false