Abstract.

"The ocean is the main source of thermal inertia in the climate system. Ocean heat uptake during recent decades has been quantified using ocean temperature measurements. However, these estimates all use the same imperfect ocean dataset and share additional uncertainty due to sparse coverage, especially before 2007. Here, we provide an independent estimate by using measurements of atmospheric oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) – levels of which increase as the ocean warms and releases gases – as a whole ocean thermometer. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: L. Resplandy et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56490-z

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Climate change is transforming aquatic ecosystems. Coastal waters have experienced progressive warming, acidification, and deoxygenation that will intensify this century. At the same time, there is a scientific consensus that the public health, recreation, tourism, fishery, aquaculture, and ecosystem impacts from harmful algal blooms (HABs) have all increased over the past several decades. [...]"

Source: Harmful Algae
Author: Christopher J.Gobler
DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2019.101731

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Non-native species introductions are associated with a range of ecosystem changes such as habitat destruction, competition with native species, and biodiversity losses. Less well known is the role non-native species play in altering biogeochemical processes, such as the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). In this study we used laboratory incubations to compare seasonal (spring, summer, fall) emissions of the GHGs nitrous oxide (N₂O), methane (CH₄), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) from native (Crassostrea virginica) and non-native (Ostrea edulis) oysters collected from a northern temperate estuary (Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts, USA). [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Environmental Science
Authors: Gretchen J. McCarthy et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2019.00194

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Plastic is an allochthonous material to marine ecosystems but is rapidly colonized by marine microbial communities, with an as yet unclear contribution to biogeochemical cycles. In this study, we investigated the influence of an active microbial community grown on microplastic particles (the plastisphere) on CO₂ and N₂O recycling and its potential role in greenhouse gas inventories and air-sea exchange. Microplastics were collected during two cruises (Cimar 21 and FIP Montes Submarinos) from the surface layer (5 m depth) from several contrasting trophic regions of the South Pacific Ocean, i.e., from a transition zone off the eutrophic coastal upwelling of Chile, to a mesotrophic transition area of oceanic seamounts and, finally, to an oligotrophic zone in the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre. [...]"

Source: Chemosphere
Authors: MarcelaCornejo-D’Ottone et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.125709

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Denitrification may potentially alleviate excess nitrogen (N) availability in coral holobionts to maintain a favourable N to phosphorous ratio in the coral tissue. However, little is known about the abundance and activity of denitrifiers in the coral holobiont. The present study used the nirS marker gene as a proxy for denitrification potential along with measurements of denitrification rates in a comparative coral taxonomic framework from the Red Sea: Acropora hemprichii, Millepora dichotoma, and Pleuractis granulosa. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Arjen Tilstra et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55408-z

Read the full article here.

"In recent years, scientists have projected increasingly large summer dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay, areas where there is little or no oxygen for living things like crabs and fish to thrive, even as long-term efforts to reduce nutrient pollution continue. Researchers factored in local impacts of climate change to make projections of what the oxygen content of the Chesapeake Bay will look like in the future. [...]"

Source: Science Daily

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Abstract.

"The end‐Devonian mass extinction (~359 Ma) substantially impacted marine ecosystems and shaped the roots of modern vertebrate biodiversity. Although multiple hypotheses have been proposed, no consensus has been reached about the mechanism inducing this extinction event. In this study, I/Ca ratio of carbonate was used to unravel the changes in local oxygen content of the upper water column during this critical interval. The Devonian‐Carboniferous boundary was recorded in two shallow water carbonate sections in South China. [...]"

Source: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Authors: Jiangsi Liu et al.
DOI: 10.1029/2019GC008614

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Abstract.

"Numerous studies have provided compelling evidence that the Pacific Ocean has experienced substantial glacial/interglacial changes in bottom-water oxygenation associated with enhanced carbon dioxide storage in the glacial deep ocean. Under postulated low glacial bottom-water oxygen concentrations (O2bw), redox zonation, biogeochemical processes and element fluxes in the sediments must have been distinctively different during the last glacial period (LGP) compared to current well-oxygenated conditions. [...]"

Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Authors: Jessica B.Volz et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2019.116012

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans occurred across three major steps during the Paleoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic, and Paleozoic eras, with each increase having profound consequences for the biosphere. Biological or tectonic revolutions have been proposed to explain each of these stepwise increases in oxygen, but the principal driver of each event remains unclear. Here we show, using a theoretical model, that the observed oxygenation steps are a simple consequence of internal feedbacks in the long-term biogeochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, and phosphorus, and that there is no requirement for a specific stepwise external forcing to explain the course of Earth surface oxygenation. [...]"

Source: Science
Authors: Lewis J. Alcott et al.
DOI: 10.1126/science.aax6459

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Multidisciplinary ocean observing activities provide critical ocean information to satisfy ever-changing socioeconomic needs and require coordinated implementation. The upper oxycline (transition between high and low oxygen waters) is fundamentally important for the ecosystem structure and can be a useful proxy for multiple observing objectives connected to eastern boundary systems (EBSs) that neighbor oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Véronique Garçon et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00722

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"In response to rising CO₂ concentrations and increasing global sea surface temperatures, oxygen minimum zones (OMZ), or “dead zones”, are expected to expand. OMZs are fueled by high primary productivity, resulting in enhanced biological oxygen demand at depth, subsequent oxygen depletion, and attenuation of remineralization. This results in the deposition of organic carbon‐rich sediments. Carbon drawdown is estimated by biogeochemical models; however, a major process is ignored: carbon fixation in the mid‐ and lower water column. [...]"

Source: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Authors: Sabine K. Lengger et al.
DOI: 10.1029/2019GB006282

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"“Dead zones” are rapidly appearing in the world’s oceans as they lose oxygen at an unprecedented rate due to climate change, sewage pollution and farming practices, presenting an existential threat to marine life and ecosystems, according to a vast new study.

The overall level of oxygen in the oceans has dropped by roughly 2 per cent, while the number of known hypoxic “dead zones” – where oxygen levels are dangerously low – has skyrocketed from 45 known sites in the 1960s to at least 700 areas now dangerously devoid of the life-giving compound, some encompassing thousands of square miles. [...]"

Source: The Independent

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"The world’s oceans are gasping for breath, a report issued Saturday at the annual global climate talks in Madrid has concluded.

The report represents the combined efforts of 67 scientists from 17 countries and was released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It found that oxygen levels in the world’s oceans declined by roughly 2 percent between 1960 and 2010. The decline, called deoxygenation, is largely attributed to climate change, although other human activities are contributing to the problem. One example is so-called nutrient runoff, when too many nutrients from fertilizers used on farms and lawns wash into waterways. [...]"

Source: The New York Times

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Abstract.

"The ocean represents 97% of the physical habitable space on the planet and is central to sustaining all life on Earth. Since 2000 significant and dedicated effort has been directed at raising awareness and understanding of the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions on the ocean. Carbon dioxide emitted by human activities is driving the ocean towards more acidic conditions. Only in the past decade has it started to become more widely recognized that the temperature of the global ocean is also being significantly affected as a result of the effect that the carbon dioxide and other potent greenhouse gases are having in the Earth’s atmosphere. [...]"

Source: IUCN
Authors: D. Laffoley and J. M. Baxter
DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.CH.2019.13.en

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Abstract.

"Coastal ecosystems experience substantial natural fluctuations in pCO₂ and dissolved oxygen (DO) conditions on diel, tidal, seasonal and interannual timescales. Rising carbon dioxide emissions and anthropogenic nutrient input are expected to increase these pCO₂ and DO cycles in severity and duration of acidification and hypoxia. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Emma L. Cross et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53930-8

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Abstract.

"The Mesoproterozoic Era (1.6-1.0 Ga), long regarded as an interval of sluggish biotic evolution and persistently low atmospheric-oceanic oxygen levels, has become the subject of recent controversy regarding putative large-scale oxygenation events. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of redox, productivity, seawater sulfate concentrations, and hydrographic conditions for the ∼1.4-1.32-Ga Xiamaling Formation in the shallow Hougou and mid-depth Huangtugui sections in the Yanshan Basin (North China). [...]"

Source: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Authors: HaiyangWang et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2019.11.028

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"Ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and marine heatwaves are all pressing marine issues that are quietly intensifying around the world. These challenges are diverse and occur on a massive scale, making it difficult for people to understand the full extent of the problem. To shed some light on this topic, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) spoke with Mr. Tsunoda, Senior Research Fellow at the Ocean Policy Research Institute (OPRI). [...]"

Source: Sasakawa Peace Foundation

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"An international team of researchers led by the University of Exeter suggests that a wide variety of marine species could be used for monitoring the world's oceans. Using electronic tags, scientists could exploit the natural behavior of sharks, penguins, turtles, seals and other species to fill gaps in our knowledge of the seas.

With three-quarters of the Earth's surface covered with water, having a comprehensive understanding of the oceans is very important in dealing with everything from fishing quotas to climate change. The problem is that the oceans are much bigger than most people realize and many parts aren't easily, if at all, accessible."

Source: New Atlas

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"TOMBWA, Angola — His ancestors were Portuguese colonialists who settled on this otherworldly stretch of coast, wedged between a vast desert and the southern Atlantic. They came looking for the one thing this barren region had in abundance: fish.

By the time Mario Carceija Santos was getting into the fishing business half a century later, in the 1990s, Angola had won independence and the town of Tombwa was thriving. There were 20 fish factories strung along the bay, a constellation of churches and schools, a cinema hall built in art deco, and, in the central plaza, massive drying racks for the tons upon tons of fish hauled out of the sea. [...]"

Source: The Washington Post

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Abstract.

"The climate of the ocean’s eastern boundaries is strongly influenced by subtropical anticyclones, which drive a surface wind stress that promotes coastal upwelling of nutrient-rich subsurface water that supports high primary productivity and an abundance of food resources. Understanding the projected response of upwelling-favourable winds to climate change has broad implications for coastal biogeochemistry, ecology, and fisheries. [...]"

Source: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Authors: Catalina Aguirre et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41612-019-0101-9

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"The marine iodine cycle has significant impacts on air quality and atmospheric chemistry. Specifically, the reaction of iodide with ozone in the top few micrometres of the surface ocean is an important sink for tropospheric ozone (a pollutant gas) and the dominant source of reactive iodine to the atmosphere. Sea surface iodide parameterisations are now being implemented in air quality models, but these are currently a major source of uncertainty. [...]"

Source: Scientific Data
Authors: Rosie J. Chance et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41597-019-0288-y

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"New research led by scientists at the University of Bristol has shown that the feedback mechanisms that were thought to keep the marine nitrogen cycle relatively stable over geological time can break down when oxygen levels in the ocean decline significantly.

The nitrogen cycle is essential to all forms of life on Earth - nitrogen is a basic building block of DNA.The marine nitrogen cycle is strongly controlled by biology and small changes in the marine nitrogen cycle have major implications on life. [...]"

Source: University of Bristol

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Abstract.

"The present-day marine nitrogen (N) cycle is strongly regulated by biology. Deficiencies in the availability of fixed and readily bioavailable nitrogen relative to phosphate (P) in the surface ocean are largely corrected by the activity of diazotrophs. This feedback system, termed the “nitrostat,” is thought to have provided close regulation of fixed-N speciation and inventory relative to P since the Proterozoic. [...]"

Source: PNAS
Authors: B. David A. Naafs et al.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1905553116

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Abstract.

"Climate change is known to cause deoxygenation in the open ocean, but its effects on eutrophic and seasonally hypoxic estuaries and coastal oceans are less clear. Using Chesapeake Bay as a study site, we conducted climate downscaling projections for dissolved oxygen and found that the hypoxic and anoxic volumes would increase by 10‐30% between the late 20^th and mid‐21^st century. [...]"

Source: JGR Oceans
Authors: Wenfei Ni et al. 
DOI: 10.1029/2019JC015274

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"An annual model-based report on "dead-zone" conditions in the Chesapeake Bay during 2019 indicates the total volume of low-oxygen, "hypoxic" water was on the high end of the normal range for 1985 to 2018, a finding that scientists consider relatively good news.

 

Dr. Marjy Friedrichs, a Virginia Institute of Marine Science professor and report card co-author, says "Even with environmental conditions that favor severe hypoxia, including record-high river input and light winds, our analysis shows that the total amount of hypoxia this year was within the normal range seen over the past 35 years."

Source: Phys.org

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Abstract.

"The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) and Eastern Tropical South Pacific (ETSP) are distinctly different regimes, yet they share several important features. These include a strong upwelling system, a large oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) with active denitrification, a spreading center with extensive hydrothermal activity, and a vast oligotrophic upper water column. Here, we show that the distribution and geochemistry of iron shows remarkable similarities as well. [...]"

Source: Chemical Geology
Authors: James W. Moffett and Christopher R. German
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.119334

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"In an effort to reverse the decline in the health of the world's oceans, the United Nations (UN) has declared 2021 to 2030 to be the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. One key requirement for the scientific initiative is data on existing global ocean conditions. An important trove of data is already available thanks to the Tara Oceans expedition, an international, interdisciplinary enterprise that collected 35,000 samples from all the world's oceans between 2009 and 2013. The samples were collected by researchers aboard one schooner, the Tara, at depths ranging from the surface to 1,000 meters deep. [...]"

Source: Science Daily

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Abstract.

"The early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 1a represents a major perturbation of the Earth's climate system and in particular the carbon cycle, as evidenced by widespread preservation of organic matter in marine settings and a characteristic negative carbon isotopic excursion (CIE) at its onset, followed by a broad positive CIE. The contemporaneous emplacement of a large igneous province (LIP) is invoked as a trigger for OAE 1a (and OAEs in general), but this link and the ultimate source of the carbon perturbation at the onset of OAEs is still debated. [...]"

Source: 
Authors: Markus Adloff et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115947

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Abstract.

"We constructed parameterizations for the estimation of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and pH in the western North Pacific, including Japanese coastal regions. Parameterizations, determined as a function of potential temperature (θ) and dissolved oxygen (DO), provided strong correlations with direct measurements for DIC [the coefficient of determination (R²) = 0.99; the root mean square error (RMSE) = 8.49 µmol kg⁻¹] and pH (R² = 0.98, RMSE = 0.030). [...]"

Source: Journal of Oceanography
Authors: Yutaka W. Watanabe et al.
DOI: 10.1007/s10872-019-00532-7

Read the full article here.

 

Abstract.

"Ocean acidification, induced by the increase in anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, has a profound impact on marine organisms and biogeochemical processes¹. The response of marine microbial activities to ocean acidification might play a crucial role in the future evolution of air–sea fluxes of biogenic gases such as nitrous oxide (N₂O), a strong GHG and the dominant stratospheric ozone-depleting substance². Here, we examine the response of N₂O production from nitrification to acidification in a series of incubation experiments conducted in subtropical and subarctic western North Pacific. [...]"

Source: Nature Climate Change
Authors: Florian Breider et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0605-7

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Abstract.

"We investigate the climate mitigation potential and collateral effects of direct injections of captured CO₂ into the deep ocean as a possible means to close the gap between an intermediate CO₂ emissions scenario and a specific temperature target, such as the 1.5 ^∘C target aimed for by the Paris Agreement. For that purpose, a suite of approaches for controlling the amount of direct CO₂ injections at 3000 m water depth are implemented in an Earth system model of intermediate complexity. [...]"

Source: Earth System Dynamics
Authors: Fabian Reith et al.
DOI: 10.5194/esd-10-711-2019

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"The availability of the micronutrient iron (Fe) in surface waters determines primary production, N₂ fixation, and microbial community structure in large parts of the world's ocean, and thus it plays an important role in ocean carbon and nitrogen cycles. Eastern boundary upwelling systems and the connected oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are typically associated with elevated concentrations of redox-sensitive trace metals (e.g., Fe, manganese (Mn), and cobalt (Co)), with shelf sediments typically forming a key source. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Insa Rapp et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-16-4157-2019

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Abstract.

"Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations shape the biogeochemistry and ecological structure of aquatic ecosystems; as a result, understanding how and why DO varies in space and time is of fundamental importance. Using high-resolution, in situ DO time-series collected over the course of a year in a novel marine ecosystem (Jellyfish Lake, Palau), we show that DO declined throughout the marine lake and subsequently recovered in the upper water column. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Jesse Wilson et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52430-z

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Coastal and ocean acidification can alter ocean biogeochemistry, with ecological consequences that may result in economic and cultural losses. Yet few time series and high resolution spatial and temporal measurements exist to track the existence and movement of water low in pH and/or carbonate saturation. Past acidification monitoring efforts have either low spatial resolution (mooring) or high cost and low temporal and spatial resolution (research cruises). [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Grace K. Saba et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00664

Read the full article here.

 

Abstract.

"Seawater pH is undergoing a decreasing trend due to the absorption of atmospheric CO₂, a phenomenon known as ocean acidification (OA). Biogeochemical processes occurring naturally in the ocean also change pH and hence, for an accurate assessment of OA, the contribution of the natural component to the total pH variation must be quantified. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Susana Flecha et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52084-x

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"As ocean acidification (OA) sensor technology develops and improves, in situ deployment of such sensors is becoming more widespread. However, the scientific value of these data depends on the development and application of best practices for calibration, validation, and quality assurance as well as on further development and optimization of the measurement technologies themselves. Here, we summarize the results of a 2-day workshop on OA sensor best practices held in February 2018, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, drawing on the collective experience and perspectives of the participants. [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Akash R. Sastri et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00653

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Abstract.

"The area off the Changjiang Estuary is under strong impact of fresh water and anthropogenic nutrient load from the Changjiang River. The seasonal hypoxia in the area has variable location and range, but the decadal trend reveals expansion and intensification of the dissolved oxygen (DO) depletion. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Taavi Liblik et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-2019-421

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"They were also able to link this event with a shift in the Benguela upwelling system, and an associated intensification of the oxygen minimum zone in this region. The team has now published their findings in the journal Geology.

Known as 'ecosystem engineers', cold-water corals play an important role in the species diversity of the deep sea. The coral species Lophelia pertusa is significantly involved in reef formation. [...]"

Source: EurekAlert!

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Abstract.

"Increasing deoxygenation (loss of oxygen) of the ocean, including expansion of oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), is a potentially important consequence of global warming. We examined present day variability of vertical distributions of copepod species in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) living in locations with different water column oxygen profiles and OMZ intensity (lowest oxygen concentration and its vertical extent in a profile). [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Karen F. Wishner, Brad Seibel, and Dawn Outram
DOI: 10.5194/bg-2019-394

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Abstract.

"Remotely sensed and in situ data, in tandem with numerical modeling, are used to explore the causes of an episode of localized but severe mortality of corals, sponges, and other invertebrates at the Flower Garden Banks (FGB) National Marine Sanctuary in July 2016. [...]"

Source: Continental Shelf Research
Authors: Matthieu Le Hénaff et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.csr.2019.103988

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Abstract.

"Oceans are the largest, readily exchangeable, superficial carbon reservoir; a current challenge in investigating past and present environments and predict future evolution relates to the role of oceanic carbon in regulating Earths' carbon cycle and climate. At least one paired δ¹³C_carb-TOC decoupling event is noted in the Late Bathonian–Early Callovian. [...]"

Source: Global and Planetary Change
Authors: Ricardo L.Silva et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2019.103058

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Research efforts have intensified to foresee the prospects for marine biomes under climate change and anthropogenic drivers over varying temporal and spatial scales. Parallel with these efforts is the utilization of terminology, such as ‘ocean acidification’ and ‘ocean deoxygenation’, that can foster rapid comprehension of complex processes driving carbon dioxide (CO₂) and oxygen (O₂) concentrations in the global ocean and thus, are now widely used in discussions within and beyond academia. [...]"

Source: Global Change Biology
Authors: Shannon G. Klein et al.
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14879

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Ground-based atmospheric observations of CO₂, δ(O₂∕N₂), N₂O, and CH₄ were used to make estimates of the air–sea fluxes of these species from the Lüderitz and Walvis Bay upwelling cells in the northern Benguela region, during upwelling events. Average flux densities (±1σ) were 0.65±0.4 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹ for CO₂, −5.1±2.5 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹ for O₂ (as APO), 0.61±0.5 nmol m⁻² s⁻¹ for N₂O, and 4.8±6.3 nmol m⁻² s⁻¹ for CH₄. A comparison of our top-down (i.e., inferred from atmospheric anomalies) flux estimates with shipboard-based measurements showed that the two approaches agreed within ±55 % on average, though the degree of agreement varied by species and was best for CO₂. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Eric J. Morgan et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-16-4065-2019

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Abstract.

"The paper documents seasonality, interannual-to-decadal variability, and trends in temperature, salinity, and density over a transect in the shallow northern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea) between 1979 and 2017. The amplitude of seasonality decreases with depth and is much larger in temperature and density than in salinity. [...]"

Source: Ocean Science
Authors: Ivica Vilibić et al.
DOI: 10.5194/os-15-1351-2019

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Abstract.

"We investigate the seasonal variability of the southern tip (30°–38°S) of the eastern South Pacific oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) based on a high horizontal resolution (1/12°) regional coupled physical‐biogeochemical model simulation. The simulation is validated by available in situ observations and the OMZ seasonal variability is documented. The model OMZ, bounded by the contour of 45 μM, occupies a large volume (4.5x10⁴ km³) during the beginning of austral winter and a minimum (3.5x10⁴ km³) at the end of spring, just 1 and 2 months after the southward transport of the Peru‐Chile Undercurrent (PCUC) is maximum and minimum, respectively.  [...]"

Source: JGR Oceans
Authors: Matias Pizarro‐Koch et al.
DOI: 10.1029/2019JC015201

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Abstract.

"Mechanistic description of the transition from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism is necessary for diagnostic and predictive modeling of fixed nitrogen loss in anoxic marine zones (AMZs). In a metabolic model where diverse oxygen- and nitrogen-cycling microbial metabolisms are described by underlying redox chemical reactions, we predict a transition from strictly aerobic to predominantly anaerobic regimes as the outcome of ecological interactions along an oxygen gradient, obviating the need for prescribed critical oxygen concentrations. [...]"

Source: The ISME Journal 
Authors: Emily J. Zakem et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41396-019-0523-8

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Abstract.

"Offequatorial extension of equatorial buoy arrays such as Tropical Atmosphere and Ocean/Triangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network (TAO/TRITON) buoy array is required to monitor global and regional climates. On December 3, 2016, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) deployed a moored buoy (Ph buoy) at 13°N, 137° E in the Philippine Sea and are measuring temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen concentration from the sea surface to 300 m and atmospheric parameters. [...]"

Source: MTS/IEEE Kobe Techno-Oceans (OTO), 2018 OCEANS
Authors: Akira Nagano  et al.
DOI: 10.1109/OCEANSKOBE.2018.8558886

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Abstract.

"Sediments in oxygen-depleted marine environments can be an important sink or source of bio-essential trace metals in the ocean. However, the key mechanisms controlling the release from or burial of trace metals in sediments are not exactly understood. Here, we investigate the benthic biogeochemical cycling of Fe and Cd in the oxygen minimum zone off Peru. We combine bottom water profiles, pore water profiles, as well as benthic fluxes determined from pore water profiles and in-situ from benthic chamber incubations along a depth transect at 12° S. In agreement with previous studies, both concentration-depth profiles and in-situ benthic fluxes indicate a Fe release from sediments into bottom waters. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences  (Preprint)
Authors: Anna Plass et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-2019-390

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"THE  fish kill in the coastal areas of Las Piñas and Parañaque was not caused by blast fishing but from the poor level of oxygen and high levels of ammonia and phosphates in said water body.

Based on the tests conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-National Fisheries Laboratory Division and BFAR 4A on the water quality in three sampling areas, it showed that there is a poor level of dissolved oxygen and higher levels of ammonia and phosphates than the standard level. The  sampling areas were in San Dionisio and Bay City, both in Parañaque. [...]"

Read the full article here.

"Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is being added to the atmosphere through both natural processes and human activities, such as energy production and agriculture.

To predict the impacts of human emissions, researchers need a complete picture of the atmosphere’s methane cycle. They need to know the size of the inputs—both natural and human—as well as the outputs. They also need to know how long methane resides in the atmosphere.

To help develop this understanding, Tom Weber, an assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester; undergraduate researcher Nicola Wiseman ’18, now a graduate student at the University of California, Irvine; and their colleague Annette Kock at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany, used data science to determine how much methane is emitted from the ocean into the atmosphere each year.  [...]"

Source: University of Rochester

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Abstract.

"Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs) document major perturbations of the global carbon cycle with repercussions on the Earth’s climate and ocean circulation that are relevant to understand future climate trends. Here, we compare sedimentation patterns, nutrient cycling, organic carbon accumulation and carbon isotope variability across Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Events OAE1a and OAE2 in two drill cores with unusually high sedimentation rates from the Vocontian Basin (southern France) and Tarfaya Basin (southern Morocco). [...]"

Source: Climate of the Past (Preprint)
Authors: Sebastian Beil et al.
DOI: 10.5194/cp-2019-118

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Ecological impact of global change is generated by multiple synchronous or asynchronous drivers which interact with each other and with intraspecific variability of sensitivities. In three near-natural experiments, we explored response correlations of full-sibling germling families of the seaweed Fucus vesiculosus towards four global change drivers: elevated CO₂ (ocean acidification, OA), ocean warming (OW), combined OA and warming (OAW), nutrient enrichment and hypoxic upwelling. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Balsam Al-Janabi et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51099-8

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Roughly a third (~30 ppm) of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) that entered the ocean during ice ages is attributed to biological mechanisms. A leading hypothesis for the biological drawdown of CO₂ is iron (Fe) fertilisation of the high latitudes, but modelling efforts attribute at most 10 ppm to this mechanism, leaving ~20 ppm unexplained [...]"

Source: Nature Communications 
Authors: Pearse J. Buchanan et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12549-z

Read the full article here.

"Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is being added to the atmosphere through both natural processes and human activities, such as energy production and agriculture.

To predict the impacts of human emissions, researchers need a complete picture of the atmosphere's methane cycle. They need to know the size of the inputs—both natural and human—as well as the outputs. They also need to know how long methane resides in the atmosphere. [...]"

Source: Phys.org

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Abstract.

"Oceanic emissions represent a highly uncertain term in the natural atmospheric methane (CH₄) budget, due to the sparse sampling of dissolved CH₄ in the marine environment. Here we overcome this limitation by training machine-learning models to map the surface distribution of methane disequilibrium (∆CH₄). Our approach yields a global diffusive CH₄ flux of 2–6TgCH₄yr⁻¹ from the ocean to the atmosphere, after propagating uncertainties in ∆CH₄ and gas transfer velocity.  [...]"

Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Thomas Weber, Nicola A. Wiseman & Annette Kock 
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12541-7

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"ATLAS is one of these projects you can’t do justice to in a single-page article. For over 3.5 years now, a consortium of multinational industries, SMEs, governments and academia have been sailing across the Atlantic to assess its deep-sea ecosystems. In doing so, they’ve already managed to deeply enhance our understanding of the consequences of climate change as well as inform the development of better management policies and practices. [...]"

Source: Cordis

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"The proliferation of large, motile animals 540 to 520 Ma has been linked to both rising and declining O₂ levels on Earth. To explore this conundrum, we reconstruct the global extent of seafloor oxygenation at approximately submillion-year resolution based on uranium isotope compositions of 187 marine carbonates samples from China, Siberia, and Morocco, and simulate O₂ levels in the atmosphere and surface oceans using a mass balance model constrained by carbon, sulfur, and strontium isotopes in the same sedimentary successions. [...]"

Source: PNAS
Authors: Tais W. Dahl et al.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1901178116

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Insights from Sustained Investigations in the Northern California Current Large Marine Ecosystem

Abstract.

"Coastal upwelling ecosystems around the world are defined by wind-generated currents that bring deep, nutrient-rich waters to the surface ocean where they fuel exceptionally productive food webs. These ecosystems are also now understood to share a common vulnerability to ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH). In the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), reports of marine life die-offs by fishers and resource managers triggered research that led to an understanding of the risks posed by hypoxia. Similarly, unprecedented losses from shellfish hatcheries led to novel insights into the coastal expression of ocean acidification. [...]"

Source: Oceanography
Authors: Francis Chan et al.
DOI: 10.5670/oceanog.2019.312

Read the full article here. 

Abstract.

"Diverse studies predict global expansion of Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) as a consequence of anthropogenic global warming. While the observed dissolved oxygen concentrations in many coastal regions are slowly decreasing, sediment core paleorecords often show contradictory trends. This is the case for numerous high-resolution reconstructions of oxygenation in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP). [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Konstantin Choumiline et al.
DOI: 10.3389/feart.2019.00237

Read the full article here.

"The importance of the ocean in climate regulation is enormous—yet undervalued. The ocean is estimated to have absorbed 93 percent of the excess heat generated by human activities since the 1970s, acting as a buffer against the global warming we've seen to date. The majority of the global carbon cycle circulates through the ocean, through marine food-webs and other processes, and carbon is locked-away in coastal and marine habitats and deep in ocean sediments. Coastal ecosystems alone sequester more carbon than terrestrial forest per unit area. [...]"

Source: Phys.org

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Abstract.

" In the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) at least three near-surface water masses are affected by mesoscale processes that modulate the biogeochemical cycles. Prior studies have presented different classifications of water masses where the greater emphasis was on deep waters and not on the surface waters (σ_θ < 26 kg m⁻³), as in this work. Here presents a new classification of water masses in the GoM, based on thermohaline properties and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration using data from a total of five summer and winter cruises carried out primarily in the central GoM. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Gabriela Yareli Cervantes-Diaz et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-2019-340

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Abstract.

"We apply a coupled modelling system composed of a state-of-the-art hydrodynamical model and a low complexity biogeochemical model to an idealized Iberian Peninsula upwelling system to identify the main drivers of dissolved oxygen variability and to study its response to changes in the duration of the upwelling season and in phytoplankton growth regime. [...]"

Source: Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics (preprint)
Authors: João H. Bettencourt et al.
DOI: 10.5194/npg-2019-47

Read the full article here.

"More than two-thirds of the planet is covered by ocean, but these waters have not received their due in terms of research dollars or public attention. That means the dangers that the seas face from climate change — and the solutions that they offer — are often overlooked. [...]"

Source: Nature
Authors: Janis Searles Jones
DOI: 10.1038/d41586-019-02832-w

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"A persistently aerobic marine nitrogen cycle featuring the biologically mediated oxidation of ammonium to nitrate has likely been in place since the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) some 2.3 billion years ago. Although nitrogen isotope data from some Neoarchaean sediments suggests transient nitrate availability prior to the GOE, these data are open to other interpretations. [...]"

Source: Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Authors: C.Mettam et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115800

Read the full article here.

"Investigations are underway following the report of a fish kill at the Jurien Bay Marina, where large numbers of dead fish from a range of species have been found.

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development officers are investigating the event, to gather information and assess the extent of the fish kill. They have also gathered suitable fish and water samples for laboratory testing. [...]"

Source: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Australia)

Read the full report here.

Abstract.

"Permanently anoxic regions in the ocean are widespread and exhibit unique microbial metabolic activity exerting substantial influence on global elemental cycles and climate. Reconstructing microbial metabolic activity rates in these regions has been challenging, due to the technical difficulty of direct rate measurements. In Cariaco Basin, which is the largest permanently anoxic marine basin and an important model system for geobiology, long‐term monitoring has yielded time series for the concentrations of biologically important compounds; however, the underlying metabolite fluxes remain poorly quantified. [...]"

Source: Geobiology
Authors: Stilianos Louca et al.
DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12357

Read the full article here.

The Ocean Component of the Integrated Carbon Observation System, ICOS-Oceans

Abstract.

"The European Research Infrastructure Consortium “Integrated Carbon Observation System” (ICOS) aims at delivering high quality greenhouse gas (GHG) observations and derived data products (e.g., regional GHG-flux maps) for constraining the GHG balance on a European level, on a sustained long-term basis. The marine domain (ICOS-Oceans) currently consists of 11 Ship of Opportunity lines (SOOP – Ship of Opportunity Program) and 10 Fixed Ocean Stations (FOSs) spread across European waters, including the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and the Barents, North, Baltic, and Mediterranean Seas. [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Tobias Steinhoff et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00544

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Natural variability in pH in the diffusive boundary layer (DBL), the discrete layer of seawater between bulk seawater and the outer surface of organisms, could be an important factor determining the response of corals and coralline algae to ocean acidification (OA). Here, two corals with different morphologies and one coralline alga were maintained under two different regimes of flow velocities, pH, and light intensities in a 12 flumes experimental system for a period of 27 weeks. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: S. Comeau et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49044-w

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Ocean acidification and ocean warming (OAW) are simultaneously occurring and could pose ecological challenges to marine life, particularly early life stages of fish that, although they are internal calcifiers, may have poorly developed acid-base regulation. This study assessed the effect of projected OAW on key fitness traits (growth, development and swimming ability) in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) larvae and juveniles. [...]"

Source: PLoS One
Authors: Louise Cominassi etal.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221283

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"The Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) Ocean hosts one of the world's largest oceanic oxygen deficient zones (ODZs). Hotspots for reactive nitrogen (N_r) removal processes, ODZs generate conditions proposed to promote N_r inputs via dinitrogen (N₂) fixation. In this study, we quantified N₂ fixation rates by ¹⁵N‐tracer bioassay across oxygen, nutrient and light gradients within and adjacent to the ODZ. [...]"

Source: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Authors: C.R. Selden et al.
DOI: 10.1029/2019GB006242

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"Chinese scientists have developed an online system to monitor marine-biochemical elements, according to Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, who led the project. The research team developed the online monitoring instruments by integrating three measurement modules namely, the chlorophyll module, productivity module and dissolved oxygen module, which are all developed by the team itself. [...]"

Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Abstract.

"Previous studies have suggested that enhanced weathering and benthic phosphorus (P) fluxes, triggered by climate warming, can increase the oceanic P inventory on millennial timescales, promoting ocean productivity and deoxygenation. In this study, we assessed the major uncertainties in projected P inventories and their imprint on ocean deoxygenation using an Earth system model of intermediate complexity for the same business-as-usual carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission scenario until the year 2300 and subsequent linear decline to zero emissions until the year 3000. [...]"

Source: Earth System Dynamics
Authors: Tronje P. Kemena et al.
DOI: 10.5194/esd-10-539-2019

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Abstract.

"Ocean warming affects the life history and fitness of marine organisms by, among others, increasing animal metabolism and reducing oxygen availability. In coastal habitats, animals live in close association with photosynthetic organisms whose oxygen supply supports metabolic demands and may compensate for acute warming. [...]"

Source: Science Advances 
Authors: Folco Giomi et al.
DOI:  10.1126/sciadv.aax1814

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Abstract.

"A three-dimensional physical-biological model of marginal seas of China was used to analyze variations in hypoxic conditions and identify the main processes controlling their generation off the Changjiang Estuary. The model was validated against available observations and reproduces the observed temporal and spatial variability of hypoxia. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences (preprint)
Authors: Haiyan Zhang et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-2019-341

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Abstract.

"The Northern Indian Ocean host two recognized Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZ): one in the Arabian Sea and the other in the Bay of Bengal region. The next-generation sequencing technique was used to understand the total bacterial diversity from the surface sediment of off Goa within the OMZ of Arabian Sea, and from off Paradip within the OMZ of Bay of Bengal. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences (preprint)
Authors: Jovitha Lincy and Cathrine Manohar
DOI: 10.5194/bg-2019-330

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"In the East China Sea, hypoxia (oxygen ≤ 62.5 mmol m⁻³) is frequently observed off the Changjiang (or Yangtze) River estuary covering up to about 15,000 km². The Changjiang River is a major contributor to hypoxia formation because it discharges large amounts of freshwater and nutrients into the region. However, modelling and observational studies have suggested that intrusions of nutrient-rich oceanic water from the Kuroshio also contribute to hypoxia formation. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences (preprint)
Authors: Fabian Große et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-2019-342 

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"The late Ludlow Lau Event was a severe biotic crisis in the Silurian, characterized by resurgent microbial facies and faunal turnover rates otherwise only documented during the "big five" mass extinctions. This asynchronous late Silurian marine extinction event preceded an associated positive carbon isotope excursion (CIE), the Lau CIE, although a mechanism for this temporal offset remains poorly constrained. [...]"

Source: GeoScienceWorld
Authors: Chelsie N. Bowman et al.
DOI: 10.1130/G46571.1

Read the full article here.

"For years, scientists struggled to connect a mechanism to this mass extinction, one of the 10 most dramatic ever recorded in Earth's history. Now, researchers have confirmed that this event, referred to by scientists as the Lau/Kozlowskii extinction, was triggered by an all-too-familiar culprit: rapid and widespread depletion of oxygen in the global oceans. [...]"

Source: ScienceDaily

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Abstract.

"Hypoxia is an increasing problem in marine ecosystems around the world. While major advances have been made in our understanding of the drivers of hypoxia, challenges remain in describing oxygen dynamics in coastal regions. The complexity of many coastal areas and lack of detailed in situ data have hindered the development of models describing oxygen dynamics at a sufficient spatial resolution for efficient management actions to take place. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Elina A. Virtanen et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-16-3183-2019

Read the full article here.

Abstract. 

"In nature anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and denitrification processes convert fixed nitrogen to gaseous nitrogen compounds, which are then released to the atmosphere. While anammox bacteria produce N2 from ammonium and nitrite, in the denitrification process nitrate and nitrite are converted to N2 and the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). [...]"

Source: FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Authors: Lina Russ et al. 
DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiz137

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"The last two years MV Columbia records the ocean’s vitals every three minutes, along a 1,600-kilometer route through the Inside Passage. This includes the coastal region from Puget Sound to the Alaska Panhandle. The ship measures the sea's temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen content, and carbon dioxide concentration, aiming to monitor ocean acidification. [...]"

Source: Safety4Sea

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"As a result of anthropogenic activities, it has been predicted that the ocean will be challenged with rising temperature, increased stratification, ocean acidification, stronger more frequent tropical storms, and oxygen depletion. In the tropical Pacific off central Mexico all these phenomena are already occurring naturally, providing a laboratory from which to explore ocean biogeochemical dynamics that are predicted under future anthropogenic forcing conditions. "

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Pablo N. Trucco-Pignata et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00459

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"The Mississippi and Atchafalaya River System discharges large amounts of freshwater and nutrients into the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGoM). These lead to increased stratification and elevate primary production in the outflow region. Consequently, hypoxia (oxygen <62.5 mmol/m³), extending over an area of roughly 15,000 km², forms every summer in bottom waters. [...]"

Source: JGR Oceans
Authors: Fabian Große et al.
DOI: 10.1029/2019JC015230

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"The world’s oceans face unprecedented anthropogenic threats in the globalized era that originate from all over the world, including climate change, global trade and transportation, and pollution. Marine protected areas (MPAs) serve important roles in conservation of marine biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, but their success is increasingly challenged in the face of such large-scale threats. [...]"

Source: Sustainability
Authors: Vanessa Hull et al.
DOI: 10.3390/su11164450

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Particle aggregation determines the particle flux length scale and affects the marine oxygen concentration and thus the volume of oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) that are of special relevance for ocean nutrient cycles and marine ecosystems and that have been found to expand faster than can be explained by current state-of-the-art models. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Author: Daniela Niemeyer et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-16-3095-2019

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Abstract.

"Oceanic emissions of the climate-relevant trace gases carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and carbon disulfide (CS₂) are a major source to their atmospheric budget. Their current and future emission estimates are still uncertain due to incomplete process understanding and therefore inexact quantification across different biogeochemical regimes.  [...]"

Source: Ocean Science
Authors: Sinikka T. Lennartz et al.
DOI: 10.5194/os-15-1071-2019

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"What will the ecology of the Salish Sea look like in the year 2095?

It's an important question for millions of people who live along and near the shores of this intricate, interconnected network of coastal waterways, inlets, bays, and estuaries that encompasses Puget Sound in Washington state and the deep waters of southwest British Columbia. A research team from PNNL found that the inner Salish Sea is resilient, and that future response to climate change—while significant—will be less severe than the open ocean. [...]"

Source: phys.org

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Abstract.

"Methane (CH4) in marine sediments has the potential to contribute to changes in the ocean and climate system. Physical and biochemical processes that are difficult to quantify with current standard methods such as acoustic surveys and discrete sampling govern the distribution of dissolved CH4 in oceans and lakes. [...]"

Source: Ocean Science
Authors: Pär Jansson et al. 
DOI: 10.5194/os-15-1055-2019

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Abstract.

"Oxygen is a prerequisite for all large and motile animals. It is a puzzling paradox that fossils of benthic animals are often found in black shales with geochemical evidence for deposition in marine environments with anoxic and sulfidic bottom waters. It is debated whether the geochemical proxies are unreliable, affected by diagenesis, or whether the fossils are transported from afar or perhaps were not benthic.  [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Tais W. Dahl et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-48123-2

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Abstract.

"Ocean boundary current systems are key components of the climate system, are home to highly productive ecosystems, and have numerous societal impacts. Establishment of a global network of boundary current observing systems is a critical part of ongoing development of the Global Ocean Observing System. The characteristics of boundary current systems are reviewed, focusing on scientific and societal motivations for sustained observing. Techniques currently used to observe boundary current systems are reviewed, followed by a census of the current state of boundary current observing systems globally. The next steps in the development of boundary current observing systems are considered, leading to several specific recommendations. [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Robert E. Todd et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00423

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Abstract.

"Large oxygen depleted areas known as oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) have been observed in the Arabian Sea and recent reports indicate that these areas are expanding at an alarming rate. In marine waters, oxygen depletion may also be related to global warming and the temperature rise, acidification and deoxygenation can lead to major consequences wherein the plants, fish and other biota will struggle to survive in the ecosystem. [...]"

Source: bioRxiv
Authors: Mandar S Paingankar et al.
DOI: 10.1101/731828

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Subseafloor microbial activities are central to Earth’s biogeochemical cycles. They control Earth’s surface oxidation and major aspects of ocean chemistry. They affect climate on long timescales and play major roles in forming and destroying economic resources. In this review, we evaluate present understanding of subseafloor microbes and their activities, identify research gaps, and recommend approaches to filling those gaps. [...]"

Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Steven D’Hondt et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11450-z

Read the full article here.

"Ocean acidification is bad news for shellfish, as it makes it harder for them to form their calcium-based shells. But climate change could also have multiple other impacts that make California bays less hospitable to shelled organisms like oysters, which are a key part of the food web.

Changes to water temperature and chemistry resulting from human-caused climate change could shrink the prime habitat and farming locations for oysters in California bays, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. [...]"

Source: Science Daily

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Abstract.

"A decline in global ocean oxygen concentrations has been observed over the twentieth century and is predicted to continue under future climate change. We use a unique modeling framework to understand how the perturbed ocean circulation may influence the rate of ocean deoxygenation in response to a doubling of atmospheric CO₂ and associated global warming. [...]"

Source: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Authors: Jaime B. Palter and David S. Trossman
DOI: 10.1002/2017GB005777

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"NASA has selected a space-based instrument under its Earth Venture Instrument (EVI) portfolio that will make observations of coastal waters to help protect ecosystem sustainability, improve resource management, and enhance economic activity. The selected Geosynchronous Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer (GLIMR) instrument, led by principal investigator Joseph Salisbury at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, will provide unique observations of ocean biology, chemistry, and ecology in the Gulf of Mexico, portions of the southeastern United States coastline, and the Amazon River plume—where the waters of the Amazon River enter the Atlantic Ocean.[...]"

Source: phys.org

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Abstract.

"The Argo Program has been implemented and sustained for almost two decades, as a global array of about 4000 profiling floats. Argo provides continuous observations of ocean temperature and salinity versus pressure, from the sea surface to 2000 dbar. The successful installation of the Argo array and its innovative data management system arose opportunistically from the combination of great scientific need and technological innovation. Through the data system, Argo provides fundamental physical observations with broad societally-valuable applications, built on the cost-efficient and robust technologies of autonomous profiling floats. [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Dean Roemmich et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00439

Read the full article here. 

Hurricane Barry dampens initial size predictions

"This year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone”— an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and marine life — is approximately 6,952 square miles, according to NOAA-supported scientists. The measured size of the dead zone, also called the hypoxic zone, is the 8th largest in the 33-year record and exceeds the 5,770-square-mile average from the past five years. [...]"

Source: NOAA

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Abstract.

"Energetics studies have illuminated how animals partition energy among essential life processes and survive in extreme environments or with unusual lifestyles. There are few bioenergetics measurements for elasmobranch megafauna; the heaviest elasmobranch for which metabolic rate has been measured is only 47.7 kg, despite many weighing >1000 kg. Bioenergetics models of elasmobranch megafauna would answer fundamental ecological questions surrounding this important and vulnerable group, and enable an understanding of how they may respond to changing environmental conditions, such as ocean warming and deoxygenation. [...]"

Source: Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Authors: Christopher L. Lawson et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.07.001

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Abstract.

"Trace metal measurements in recent years have revealed a complex distribution of dissolved iron (dFe) in the ocean that models still struggle to reproduce. The GEOTRACES section GA03 across the subtropical North Atlantic was chosen to study the driving processes involved in the Fe cycle in the region. [...]"

Source: Ocean Dynamics
Authors: Anna Pagnone et al.
DOI: 10.1007/s10236-019-01288-w

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Abstract.

"The Dungeness crab is an economically and ecologically important species distributed along the North American Pacific coast. To predict how Dungeness crab may physiologically respond to future global ocean change on a molecular level, we performed untargeted metabolomic approaches on individual Dungeness crab juveniles reared in treatments that mimicked current and projected future pH and dissolved oxygen conditions. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Shelly A. Trigg et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46947-6

Read the full article here.