Explain how algae blooms form and how they contribute to the creation of dead zones.

What will be an ideal response?


An abundance of sunlight and excess nutrients causes rapid growth of phytoplankton, mostly blue-green algae.?When the algae die, they sink to the bottom of the water column.?As it sinks, bacteria eat the dead algae. This decomposition consumes much of the oxygen in the lower water column, leaving the water depleted and unsuitable for many forms of marine life.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

You might also like to view...

Which one of the following rocks is NOT a clastic sedimentary rock?

a) Shale b) Sandstone c) Conglomerate d) Chert e) Breccia

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Describe the hierarchical structure of data sets stored in a geodatabase.

What will be an ideal response?

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

As far back as 1620, Sir Francis Bacon commented on the similarity of the shorelines of western Africa and eastern South America and posited that the Old and New Worlds might once have been joined

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Smaller north-south temperature contrasts are associated with slower jet stream flow

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences