HOUSTON (AP) - A Texas A&M oceanographer says the heavy rains that caused major flooding along several Texas rivers over the past several weeks soon could lead to significant problems for marine life and commercial fishing in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas.
What researchers have labeled as a "dead zone" is created when fresh water empties into the salty Gulf of Mexico.
Steve DiMarco, a Texas A&M scientist who's researched the dead zone in the Gulf for more than a decade, says that's' happening now off the coast of Texas as the lighter fresh water remains at the surface of the Gulf and caps the saltier and heavier ocean water below it.
Oxygen levels drop, meaning marine life near and at the ocean bottom can't get enough oxygen, becomes distressed and dies.
