Abstract
The hypoxic region along the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) extends up to 125 km offshore and to 60 m water depth, has substantial variability with an average midsummer areal extent of 16,500 km2 (2001–2007), and extends in some years from the Mississippi River mouth westward to Texas coastal waters (Rabalais et al., 2007). This hypoxic region (Fig. 1.1) occurs along a relatively shallow, open coastline with complex circulation and water column structure typical of many coastal regions and includes massive inputs of freshwater, weak tidal energies, seasonally varying stratification strength, generally high water temperature, wind effects from both frontal weather systems and hurricanes, and mixing of river plumes from the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers and other smaller sources (DiMarco et al., 2006; Hetland and DiMarco, 2007).
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Dale, V.H. et al. (2010). Characterization of Hypoxia. In: Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Springer Series on Environmental Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89686-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89686-1_2
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