Abstract.

"Environmental concerns were raised from the very onset of discussions concerning the extraction of metalliferous ores from the deep sea, but most studies have targeted the expected impacts on the benthic communities only. The first section of this study compiles possible impacts of deep seabed mining activities on pelagic organisms. Several processes of mining-related activities were identified that can potentially affect the pelagic environment. Some of these processes will assumedly have only minor effects on the pelagic and benthopelagic communities, for example substrate removal and deposition of material.[...]"

 

Source: Science Direct
Authors: Bernd Christiansen et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.02.014

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Abstract.

"Oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) document major perturbations of the global carbon cycle with repercussions for the Earth's climate and ocean circulation that are relevant to understanding future climate trends. Here, we compare the onset and development of Cretaceous OAE1a and OAE2 in two drill cores with unusually high sedimentation rates from the Vocontian Basin (southern France) and Tarfaya Basin (southern Morocco). OAE1a and OAE2 exhibit remarkable similarities in the evolution of their carbon isotope (δ¹³C) records, with long-lasting negative excursions preceding the onset of the main positive excursions, supporting the view that both OAEs were triggered by massive emissions of volcanic CO₂ into the atmosphere. However, there are substantial differences, notably in the durations of individual phases within the δ¹³C positive excursions of both OAEs. [...]"

Source: Climate of the Past
Authors: Sebastian Beil et al.
DOI: 10.5194/cp-16-757-2020

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-Gulf of Mexico, NE Mexico

Abstract.

"Integrated microfacies and geochemical analyses conducted on five stratigraphic sections in northeastern Mexico (ancentral western margin of the proto-North Atlantic) reveal major paleoenvironmental changes in shallow water and pelagic environments in the prelude and run-up of the early Aptian oceanic anoxic event (OAE) 1a. During the Barremian–Aptian transition, the replacement of photozoan rudist-coral by mesotrophic/eutrophic orbitolinid-miliolid communities in the Cupido platform occurred in association with increased nutrient input. [...]"

Source: Cretaceous Research
Authors: Fernando Núñez-Useche et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104488

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Abstract.

"Oxygen depleted areas are widespread in the marine realm. Unlike macrofauna, meiofauna are abundant in hypoxic sediments. We studied to what extent meiofauna affect oxygen availability, sulfide removal and microbial communities. Meiofauna were extracted alive and added to intact sediments simulating abundance gradients previously reported in the area. [...]"

Source: Marine Environmental Research
Authors: Stefano Bonaglia et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104968

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Abstract.

"Oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs) are major sites of net natural nitrous oxide (N₂O) production and emissions. In order to understand changes in the magnitude of N₂O production in response to global change, knowledge on the individual contributions of the major microbial pathways (nitrification and denitrification) to N₂O production and their regulation is needed. In the ODZ in the coastal area off Peru, the sensitivity of N₂O production to oxygen and organic matter was investigated using ¹⁵N tracer experiments in combination with quantitative PCR (qPCR) and microarray analysis of total and active functional genes targeting archaeal amoA and nirS as marker genes for nitrification and denitrification, respectively. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Claudia Frey et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-17-2263-2020

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Abstract.

"Changes in human population centers and agricultural fertilizer use have accelerated delivery rates of nitrogen and phosphorus to coastal waters, often stimulating rapid accumulations of primary production (1). Whereas resulting eutrophication processes are of less environmental relevance in well-mixed, ocean ecosystems, when they occur in warm, stratified, and/or poorly mixed waters, they can result in hypoxia [depletion of dissolved oxygen (DO)] and acidification (decrease in pH), both of which individually can have adverse effects on aquatic life, affecting a suite of physiological processes and increasing mortality rates (2, 3). [...]"

Source: Science
Authors: Stephen J. Tomasetti, Christopher J. Gobler
DOI: 10.1126/science.aba4896

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Abstract.

"Occurrence of intense oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) is known in the Bay of Bengal (BoB), but it has been recently reported to have become more acute and is at its tipping point. Here, we show that the intensification of OMZ to acute condition is a random and short-term rather than perennial phenomenon based on re-evaluation of old and recent information in the BoB. Short-term modifications in dissolved oxygen (DO) in the OMZ are caused by balance among physical forcings: salinity stratification, occurrence of cyclonic (CE), and anticyclonic eddies (ACE). [...]"

Source: Journal of Earth System Science
Authors: B Sridevi and V V S S Sarma
DOI: 10.1007/s12040-020-1376-2

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"In March, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffered its most widespread bleaching event to date. Sixty percent of the reef underwent moderate to severe bleaching, and some corals may never recover.

The cause of this bleaching event was climate change, which brought unusually warm waters to the Great Barrier Reef in February, and disrupted the delicate, symbiotic relationship between the corals and their life-sustaining algae. In general, when sea temperatures rise, corals become stressed and expel algae from their tissues. Without this algae, the corals turn ghostly white and slowly starve. [...]"

Source: Mongabay

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Abstract.

"Many aspects of the supposed hyperthermal Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE, Early Jurassic, c. 182 Ma) are well understood but a lack of robust palaeotemperature data severely limits reconstruction of the processes that drove the T-OAE and associated environmental and biotic changes. New oxygen isotope data from calcite shells of the benthic fauna suggest that bottom water temperatures in the western Tethys were elevated by c. 3.5 °C through the entire T-OAE. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Auhtors: C. V. Ullmann et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-63487-6

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Abstract.

"The Fram Strait, the deepest gateway to the Arctic Ocean, is strongly influenced by eddy dynamics. Here we analyse the output from two eddy-resolving models (ROMS and FESOM) with around 1 km mesh resolution in the Fram Strait, with focus on their representation of eddy properties and dynamics. A comparison with mooring observations shows that both models reasonably simulate hydrography and eddy kinetic energy. [...]"

Source: Ocean Science
Authors: Claudia Wekerle et al.
DOI: 10.5194/os-2020-24

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"In a new study, Stanford researchers have strongly bolstered the theory that a lack of oxygen in Earth's oceans contributed to a devastating die-off approximately 444 million years ago. The new results further indicate that these anoxic (little- to no-oxygen) conditions lasted over 3 million years—significantly longer than similar biodiversity-crushing spells in our planet's history. Beyond deepening understandings of ancient mass extinction events, the findings have relevance for today: Global climate change is contributing to declining oxygen levels in the open ocean and coastal waters, a process that likely spells doom for a variety of species. [...]"

Source: Phys.org

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Abstract.

"Oceanic anoxic Event 2 (OAE-2) occurred at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary (∼94.1 Ma) and was a time of profound global changes in ocean chemistry and the carbon cycle. This event was characterized by a positive carbon isotope excursion (CIE) caused by massive organic carbon burial, global greenhouse temperatures, ocean deoxygenation, and changes in ocean life driven by large igneous province (LIP) activity. LIPS throughout the Phanerozoic have had dynamic magma flux, with episodes of major eruptions interspersed with periods of relatively less intense eruptions. [...]"

Source: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Authors: Daniel L. Sullivan et al.
DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2020.04.002

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Abstract.

"Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions cause ocean warming and oxygen depletion, with adverse impacts on marine organisms and ecosystems. Warming is one of the main indicators of anthropogenic climate change, but, in the thermocline, changes in oxygen and other biogeochemical tracers may emerge from the bounds of natural variability prior to warming. Here, we assess the time of emergence (ToE) of anthropogenic change in thermocline temperature and thermocline oxygen within an ensemble of Earth system model simulations from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Angélique Hameau et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-17-1877-2020

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Abstract.

"We examine the structure and drivers of anomalous phytoplankton biomass in Southern Ocean eddies tracked in a global, multi‐year, eddy‐resolving, 3‐D ocean simulation of the Community Earth System Model. We examine how simulated anticyclones and cyclones differentially modify phytoplankton biomass concentrations, growth rates, and physical transport. [...]"

Source: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Authors: Tyler Rohr et al.
DOI: 10.1029/2019GB006385

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Abstract.

"Organic matter production and decomposition primarily modulate the atmospheric O₂ and CO₂ levels. The long term marine primary productivity is controlled by the terrestrial input of phosphorus (P), while the marine P cycle would also affect organic matter production. In the past 540 million years, the evolution of terrestrial system, e.g. colonization of continents by vascular land plants in late Paleozoic, would certainly affect terrestrial P input into the ocean, which in turn might have impacted the marine primary productivity and organic carbon burial. [...]"

Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Ruimin Wang et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62816-z

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Abstract.

"Global warming and local eutrophication simultaneously lower oxygen (O₂) saturation and increase biological O₂ demands to cause deoxygenation. Tropical shallow waters, and their coral reefs, are particularly vulnerable to extreme low O₂ (hypoxia) events. These events can drive mass mortality of reef biota; however, they currently remain unaccounted for when considering coral reef persistence under local environmental alterations and global climatic change. [...]"

Source: Nature Climate Change
Authors: David J. Hughes et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0737-9

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