Quantifying the impacts of stratification and nutrient loading on hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

ABSTRACT: Stratification and nutrient loading are two primary factors leading to hypoxia in coastal systems. However, where these factors are temporally correlated, it can be difficult to isolate and quantify their individual impacts. This study provides a novel solution to this problem by determining the effect of stratification based on its spatial relationship with bottom-water dissolved oxygen (BWDO) concentration using a geostatistical regression. Ten years (1998-2007) of midsummer Gulf of Mexico BWDO measurements are modeled using stratification metrics along with trends based on spatial coordinates and bathymetry, which together explain 27-61% of the spatial variability in BWDO for individual years. Because stratification effects explain only a portion of the year-to-year variability in mean

SUBMITTER: Obenour DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3823025 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature