In environmental ecology, what mechanism drives the eutrophication of enclosed marine bays and coastal lagoons?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. excess nutrient runoff spurring algal blooms
- Step 1: Agricultural runoff containing synthetic nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers enters coastal bays. These nutrients trigger explosive phytoplankton and algal blooms; as they die, bacterial decomposition consumes dissolved oxygen, creating hypoxic dead zones. Answer: excess nutrient runoff spurring algal blooms. Why not the others: "acute thermal radiation from submarine cables" produces negligible localized heat incapable of driving ecosystem-scale eutrophication; "drastic depletion of marine carbon dioxide" is the opposite of marine carbon dynamics and does not stimulate algal blooms; "excessive sedimentation of granite gravel" relates to physical riverbed transport rather than chemical nutrient over-enrichment.
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