点这里查看论坛相应帖子

For the sixth year in a row, scientists have found oxygen-starved water off the coast of Oregon.

The large pool – not far beyond Oregon’s coast – is commonly known as a ”dead zone.” It can potentially suffocate slow-moving creatures such as crabs and sea stars on the ocean floor. Francis Chan is a marine ecologist at Oregon State University.

To find it just within a mile or two of the surf zone, is really something that we have never seen before. We really don’t see any records of oxygen levels this low, this close to shore.

The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is caused by nitrogen runoff from land. But Chan and other scientists believe the Oregon zone is caused by winds that move nutrient-rich water from the deep off-shore to the very near-shore. The nutrients feed algae, which eventually die, decompose, and deplete the water of oxygen.

When we look out at the big Pacific ocean, we think that such a large marine ecosystem, that it’s not going to change very much from year-to-year. But I think these events are telling us that these are fairly dynamic systems and that fast and rather surprising changes can happen.

Our thanks to NOAA , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

总结
oxygen-starved: 缺氧的
suffocate v.使窒息
surf zone 拍岸浪带
deep offshore 深海