Hi Ross,
As a newbie, I'm starting to get the impression that reading emails at this site can be downright depressing.lol.
I'm sure you don't remember me. I was at a COA convention at which you spoke. Don't remember a whole lot about the convention but I always remembered the man whom I could listen to happily just reading the phone book. Through auction.net I have the link to your website. Lots of lovely shells and just as soon as the dollar is worth something overseas, or they decide to give away more free money.lol I'll be getting back to you.
Gary


--- On Tue, 7/22/08, Ross Mayhew <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: Ross Mayhew <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [CONCH-L] NOAA Predicts Largest Gulf Of Mexico 'Dead Zone' On              Record
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 11:36 AM
> In the natural order of things, the waters at the mouths of
> major river
> deltas are filled with abundant life (molluscs included!!),
> nourished by
> nutrients resulting from erosion. However, when our species
> becomes
> involved, the nutrient ratios are skewed by the massive
> amounts of
> fertilizer used in agriculture: much more
> "bio-available" nitrogen and
> phosphorus are added to the river's waters, resulting
> in massive algal
> blooms when they reach the sea - result: anoxic benthic
> conditions over
> large areas, due to mounds of rotting algae: AKA "Dead
> Zones". There are
> many of these around the world, but the one at the mouth of
> the
> Mississippi is one of the largest, and getting bigger all
> the time. This
> is a good article about the situation:
>
>
>
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715114149.htm
>
>
>   NOAA Predicts Largest Gulf Of Mexico 'Dead Zone'
> On Record
>
>
> ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — NOAA-supported scientists
> from the
> Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana
> State University
> are forecasting that the "dead zone" off the
> coast of Louisiana and
> Texas in the Gulf of Mexico this summer could be the
> largest on record.
>
> The researchers are predicting the area could measure a
> record 8,800
> square miles, or roughly the size of New Jersey. In 2007,
> the dead zone
> was 7,903 square miles. The largest dead zone on record was
> in 2002,
> when it measured 8,481 square miles. The official
> measurement of this
> year's dead zone is slated to be released in late July.
> Researchers
> began taking regular measurements of the dead zone in 1985.
>
> "The prediction of a large dead zone this summer is
> due to a combination
> of large influx of nitrogen and exceptionally high flows
> from the
> Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers," said LSU
> scientist R. Eugene Turner.
>
> The dead zone is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where
> seasonal oxygen
> levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and
> near-bottom
> waters. This low oxygen, or hypoxic, area is primarily
> caused by high
> nutrient levels, which stimulates an overgrowth of algae
> that sinks and
> decomposes. The decomposition process in turn depletes
> dissolved oxygen
> in the water. The dead zone is of particular concern
> because it
> threatens valuable commercial and recreational Gulf
> fisheries.
>
> Research indicates that the nearly tripling of nitrogen
> levels into the
> Gulf over the past 50 years from human activities has led
> to a dramatic
> increase in the size of the dead zone. Various models are
> useful in
> evaluating the influence of nitrogen loads and other
> factors on the size
> of the dead zone. The LSU model has a strong track record
> of accurately
> predicting the dead zone's size.
>
> "The strong link between nutrients and the dead zone
> indicates that
> excess nutrients from the Mississippi River watershed
> during the spring
> are the primary human-influenced factor behind the
> expansion of the dead
> zone," said Rob Magnien, director of the NOAA Center
> for Sponsored
> Coastal Ocean Research. "This analysis will greatly
> inform the
> development of federal, state and local efforts to reduce
> the dead
> zone's size."
>
> The forecast is based on a mathematical model developed by
> LSU through
> NOAA's long-term research investment by CSCOR's
> Gulf of Mexico
> Ecosystems and Hypoxia Assessment. The model incorporates
> U.S.
> Geological Survey data on the amount of nitrogen reaching
> the Gulf of
> Mexico in May. NOAA has been funding investigations into
> the dead zone
> since 1990.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> /Adapted from materials provided by National Oceanic and
> Atmospheric
> Administration <http://www.noaa.gov>/.
>
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