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Potential effects of deep seabed mining on pelagic and benthopelagic biota

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

Read the full article here.

 


Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events prolonged by phosphorus cycle feedbacks

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

Read the full article here.


Response of the western proto-North Atlantic margin to the early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 1a: an example from the Cupido platform margin

-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

Read the full article here.


Meiofauna improve oxygenation and accelerate sulfide removal in the seasonally hypoxic seabed

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

Read the full article here.


Regulation of nitrous oxide production in low-oxygen waters off the coast of Peru

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

Read the full article here.


Dissolved oxygen and pH criteria leave fisheries at risk

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 (23). [...]"

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

Read the full article here.


A revisit to the regulation of oxygen minimum zone in the Bay of Bengal

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

Read the full article here.


Ocean deoxygenation could be silently killing coral reefs, scientists say

"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

Read the full article here.


Warm afterglow from the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event drives the success of deep-adapted brachiopods

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

Read the full article here.


Properties and dynamics of mesoscale-eddies in the Fram Strait from a comparison between two high-resolution ocean-sea ice models

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

Read the full article here.


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