Shade Tree Wisdom- Rain 8/1/07

Too much rain? We were happy because the rain does replenish underground water supplies. What I did not know is that too much rain water discharged into the Gulf creates ‘dead zones’.
That’s what Texas A & M University oceanographer Steve DeMarco reports. Data gathered by a National Marine Fisheries Service boat when it was making a fish count and also measured oxygen in the water.

The data astounded DeMarco. Texas rivers typically do not carry enough discharge to cause a dead zone. For the Brazos average discharge for July is a mere 4,700 cubic feet per second. This year it rose to a record 57,000 cubic feet per second, a flow that would fill Reliant stadium in 11 minutes.

Since fresh water is less dense that salt water, it spills on top of the salt water of the Gulf and depletes the oxygen. Dead zones are most prominent in summer when winds, which aid in mixing, are weakest. It gets mixed when winds freshen or a hurricane stirs the water off the coast.

And the moral of this study?

That can happen to the soul, can it not? I enjoy reading some of the writings of a person who shall remain nameless. I enjoy his philosophy about some things. But then at times he meanders into religion, and I find him swimming in a dead zone where his lack of knowledge and understanding of Scripture shows a severe need. So I stop reading there.

It happens slowly, imperceptibly, unless we continually refresh our soul by regular feeding, reading the Word, studying it, meditating on it. I urge this, my friend, always.

GPD 8/1/07