DeadZone : inhabiting the hypoxic system

Abstract

Hypoxia: a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments as dissolved oxygen is reduced in concentration to a point where it becomes detrimental to organisms living in the system. Since the mid 20th century, oceanographers began noting increased instances of dead zones when heavy fertilization became a widespread practice in modern agricultural mass production. These systems typically occur near inhabited coastlines where aquatic life is most concentrated resulting in dwindling fish stocks and increased travel distances to access fertile water decreasing fuel efficiency across the global fishing industry, which consumes approximately 50 billion liters of fuel per year. In addition, recreational activities and tourism have been affected by the resulting odor and discoloration of low oxygen level zones. The Northern Gulf of Mexico region has seen substantial growth in the average size and severity of its hypoxic zone and is one of the largest systems today. Where, 41% of the contiguous United States drains into the Mississippi basin releasing a tremendous amount of nitrogen and phosphorus into the coastal areas offering a nesting ground for massive algae blooms to occur. Maritime institutes have been attempting to resolve this issue with larger infrastructural landscape interventions including: artificial wet lands, reefs, oyster beds, diminishing fertilizer use, etc. However, Completely diminishing dead zones, especially the systems that pose the most threat, would involve incredible global engineering and cultural shifts. This proposal is not attempting to completely resolve the issue of hypoxic systems. It accepts the inexhaustible supply of rich nutrients as a critical gesture of visibility catering to the affects of the social political agenda inland. Meaning, this reoccurring issue of hypoxia would be utilized as an opportunity to deploy a network of interventions offering a platform or tangible interface for maritime institutes to utilize as a catalyst to generate soft boundaries of oxygenated waters for animal life attraction, harvesting algae, as well as progressing data throughout the Louisiana-Texas shelf for the understanding of dead zones.