MSI trio awarded grant from NOAA
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

A $781,000, three-year grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will let a team of scientists at The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute study what's known as a "dead zone" in the northwest Gulf of Mexico.

The "dead zone" is an area where little if any oxygen is contained in the water. That results in no life in that part of the Gulf.

The team is led by Dr. Wayne Gardner, whose specialty is nutrient energy in coastal ecosystems. Dr. Ed Buskey and Dr. Peter Thomas will also be part of the team.

"We want to look at the mechanism of how hypoxia forms," Gardner told the South Jetty. Hypoxia is the scientific term for low oxygen content.

Scientists believe the dead zone forms each summer because water from the Mississippi River discharge circulates into the area. That water contains nutrients that use up the oxygen in the water, keeping animal life from getting any. The nutrients are thought to come largely from nitrogen contained in excess fertilizer that runs off fields and into the river, later to be carried into the Gulf.

Creatures that can move, like fish, exit the zone; creatures that can't move, such as clams and other shellfish, are trapped and die.

A team led by Thomas studied hypoxia in fish over a several years. Their research indicated that low oxygen causes some fish to have poor reproductive cycles.

"We're going to look at microbial actions," Gardner said - the activity of microscopic microbes in the water.

As the Gulf water is invaded by fresh water from the Mississippi River, a chemical reaction converts the nitrogen from the fertilizer into ammonia and other products such as nitrogen gas. While animals can put the ammonia to some use, they can't use nitrogen gas, Gardner said.

Ordinarily, the team would have done research from the R/V Longhorn, which was based at the Marine Science Institute here. However, earlier this year, university regents found the Longhorn wasn't paying its way. It has been sold to a geophysical company and will probably be gone from Port Aransas before the end of the month.

"When we wrote the (grant) proposal, it was for using the Longhorn," Gardner said. "We'll have to lease a research ship. We thought about the Pelican, (owned by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium), but it's pretty busy right now."

Instead, Gardner said, the team will probably have to lease a research vessel out of Florida.

"I feel very fortunate," he said. "It was my dream project. We're hoping to get going right away."