5.

4
EUTROPHICATION

What words can you come up with that

start with eu

Some examples of eu words are:

eulogy
euphonic
euphoria
euthanasia
eureka
euphemism
eugenics
eukaryote (versus prokaryote)
utopia (originally eutopia) (there is some argument that
Utopia is derived from Ou topia from Ou meaning nowhere.
Therefore the meaning is a place that does not exist.)

Eutrophication is the natural process of the

aging of a body of water over time.

As more nutrients enter the body of water

and more organisms live and die and add
their organic molecules to the decaying
and recycling process, bodies of water
evolve from an oligotrophic (clear, deep,
cold, nutrient poor, few organisms, small,
simple food chains, high oxygen content)
to eutrophic (turbid, shallow, warm,
nutrient rich, complex food webs (which
then become reduced as the process goes
so far as to become detrimental to life),
low oxygen content).

Even though eutrophication is a natural

process it can be accelerated greatly by
human activities such as increasing
levels of nitrates and phosphates from
detergents, sewage and fertilizers from
agricultural runoff.

The death of Lake Erie in the mid

1960s is a classic example of
eutrophication as a direct result of mans
dumping of huge amounts of detergents
and fertilizers into the lake over a
relatively short period of time.

The following photographs are from

http://www.umanitoba.ca/institutes/fisher
ies/eutro.html
and give an excellent description of
eutrophication and experiments that
were done showing the effects.

Aerial view of Lake 227 circa 1975, showing the many marker
floats used
for intensively studying this small, experimentally fertilized lake.

Aerial view of Lake 227 in 1994. Note the bright green colour
caused by algae stimulated by the experimental addition of phosphorus
for the 26th consecutive year. Lake 305 in the background is unfertilized.

ELA Lake 226 was the site of a visually

spectacular experiment. The lake was divided
into two approximately equal portions using a
plastic divider curtain. Carbon and nitrogen were
added to one half of the lake, while carbon,
nitrogen and phosphorus were added to the
other half. For eight consecutive years, the side
receiving phosphorus developed eutrophic algal
blooms, while the side receiving only carbon and
nitrogen did not (see photo, below). However,
after only two years, this experiment convinced
even the skeptics that phosphorus is the key
nutrient. A multi-billion dollar phosphate control
program was soon instituted within the St.
Lawrence Great Lakes Basin. Legislation to
control phosphates in sewage, and to remove
phosphates from laundry detergents, was part of

View from above Lake 226 divider curtain in August 1973. The bright green colour results
from bluegreen algae (Cyanobacteria), which are growing on phosphorus added to the
near side of the curtain.