An international team looks back 12 million years for clues about the formation of these vast areas where no life can survive ... where 'dead zones' can reach the size of New Jersey. Photo Credit: ...

which rains down into the deeper ocean where it will be degraded,” creating what’s commonly called “dead zones,” or areas with oxygen too low to sustain most marine life, Treude said.

Just 6 kilometers (about 4 miles) of briny water separate the ocean's surface from the depths known as the hadal zone. Yet ...

It's the size of Florida. Dead zones are areas of the ocean with low oxygen that can no longer support marine life. It's caused by warming oceans and agricultural runoff. "The ocean is suffocating ...