Hypoxia and Medicine - what is the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone"? How is this formed? Is there a similar process/event in Lake Erie?

what is the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone"? How is this formed? Is there a similar process/event in Lake Erie?

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is an area around the mouth of the Mississippi where there's a lot less sea life than in the rest of the Gulf Coast. This is caused by over-fertilization in the Midwest. Rain washes the fertilizer into the Mississippi and eventually into the Gulf. All this fertilizer causes algae to grow wildly. As this algae dies and rots, the bacteria that decompose it use up most of the oxygen in the water, eventually 'suffocating' all the fish. I don't know if there's anything similar going in Lake Erie, but I think the one in the Gulf is the largest example of this problem anyone knows. I can't think of any major rivers flowing through agricultural areas that empty into Lake Erie, so it seems like it might not have the same problem, but that's just a guess.