Harmful Algae :: Geology

AbstractThe purpose of this term paper is to volunteer information about the different kinds of algal peaks and their effect on our environment and ourselves. There are still a lot of things that are non known about the algal bloom phenomenon, and many different hypotheses name been presented to explain these. Throughout the course of this paper those hypotheses pass on be presented and discussed, allowing the proofreader to derive their own opinion about the origin of algal blooms and what will happen in the future. table of contents Table of ContentsI. prejudicious AlgaeII. What are algal Blooms and personnel casualty Tides?III. Why do algal Blooms occur?IV. What are the effects of algal Blooms?V. Where and how often do Algal Blooms occur? VI. Resources I. Harmful Algae All algal species are not insidious. Only a few out of the thousands of species are associated with the phenomenon known as an algal bloom. These algae fall into two categories. The first h ousehold of harmful algae produces toxins that are released when ingested by animals or humans. The dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense (left) and the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia australis (right) are examples of toxin producing alga. The other category of harmful algae kill without toxins. These are equipped with structures such as spines and serrated edges that allow them to lodge in fish gill tissues. When this occurs it causes uncomfortableness which leads to overproduction of mucus which eventually leads to death. This Chaetoceros species (above) is an example of an algae that kills by apply specialized serrated structures. back to table of contents II. What Are Algal Blooms and Red Tides?Algal blooms are when algae grows at a unshakable rate and accumulate near the surface, hence the term algal bloom. The term Red Tide is a misnomer because it has nothing to do with the tides. It refers to a specific type of algal bloom that occurs when certain species of phytoplankton that contain violent pigments bloom causing the water to look red. Red Tides are unremarkably not harmful. The California Noctiluca Bloom is an example of a Red Tide back to table of contents III. Why Do algal blooms Occur?Scientists arent exactly sure of how or why algal blooms fail started. One theory is that when temperature, salinity, and nutrients reach certain levels there is a great increase in the amount of algae.