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Hypoxia-tolerant zooplankton may reduce biological carbon pump efficiency in the Humboldt current system off Peru

Abstract.

"In the ocean, downward flux of particles produced in sunlit surface waters is the major component of the biological carbon pump, which sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide and fuels deep-sea ecosystems. The efficiency of downward carbon transfer is expected to be particularly high in tropical upwelling systems where hypoxia occurring beneath the productive surface waters is thought to hamper particle consumption. However, observations of both particle feeders and carbon export in low-oxygen waters are scarce. Here, we provide evidence that hypoxia-tolerant zooplankton feed on sinking particles in the extensive Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) off Peru. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Anja Engel et al. 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01140-6

Read the full article here.


Butterfly effect of shallow-ocean deoxygenation on past marine biodiversity

Abstract.

"A geochemical study of an ancient mass-extinction event shows that only moderate expansion of oxygen-deficient waters along continental margins is needed to decimate marine biodiversity. This finding provides a stark warning of the possible consequences of human-driven ocean deoxygenation on life in Earth’s shallow oceans. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Brian Kendall
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01310-3

Read the full article here.


Spatial pattern of marine oxygenation set by tectonic and ecological drivers over the Phanerozoic

Abstract.

"Marine redox conditions (that is, oxygen levels) impact a wide array of biogeochemical cycles, but the main controls of marine redox since the start of the Phanerozoic about 538 million years ago are not well established. Here we combine supervised machine learning with shale-hosted trace metal concentrations to reconstruct a near-continuous record of redox conditions in major marine depositional settings. We find synchronously opposite redox changes in upper ocean versus deep shelf and (semi-)restricted basin settings ('redox anticouples', nomen novum) in several multi-million-year intervals, which can be used to track the positions of oxygen-minimum zones and the primary locations of organic burial through time. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Xiangli Wang et al. 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01296-y

Read the full article here.


Oxygen dynamics in marine productive ecosystems at ecologically relevant scales

Abstract.

"The decline of dissolved oxygen in the oceans could be detrimental to marine life and biogeochemical cycles. However, predicting future oxygen availability with models that mainly focus on temporal and spatial large-scale mean values could lead to incorrect predictions. Marine ecosystems are strongly influenced by short temporal- and small spatial-scale oxygen fluctuations. Large-scale modelling neglects fluctuations, which include the pervasive occurrence of high oxygen supersaturation on a daily time scale in productive ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests and the spatial heterogeneity in oxygen availability at microclimatic scales. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Folco Giomi et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01217-z

Read the full article here.


Increasing hypoxia on global coral reefs under ocean warming

Abstract. 

"Ocean deoxygenation is predicted to threaten marine ecosystems globally. However, current and future oxygen concentrations and the occurrence of hypoxic events on coral reefs remain underexplored. Here, using autonomous sensor data to explore oxygen variability and hypoxia exposure at 32 representative reef sites, we reveal that hypoxia is already pervasive on many reefs. Eighty-four percent of reefs experienced weak to moderate (≤153 µmol O2 kg−1to ≤92 µmol O2 kg−1) hypoxia and 13% experienced severe (≤61 µmol O2 kg−1) hypoxia. Under different climate change scenarios based on four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) [...]".

 

Source: Nature 
Authors: Ariel K. Pezner et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01619-2

Read the full article here.


Oxygenation of the Earth aided by mineral–organic carbon preservation

Abstract. 

"Photosynthesis produces molecular oxygen, but it is the burial of organic carbon in sediments that has allowed this O2 to accumulate in Earth’s atmosphere. Yet many direct controls on the preservation and burial of organic carbon have not been explored in detail. For modern Earth, it is known that reactive iron phases are important for organic carbon preservation, suggesting that the availability of particulate iron could be an important factor for the oxygenation of the oceans and atmosphere over Earth history. Here we develop a theoretical model to investigate the effect of mineral–organic preservation on the oxygenation of the Earth, supported by a proxy [...]".

 

Source: Nature 
Authors: Mingyu Zhao et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01133-2

Read the full article here.


Subpolar gyre decadal variability explains the recent oxygenation in the Irminger Sea

Abstract. 

"Accurate monitoring of the long-term trend of oxygen content at global scale requires a better knowledge of the regional oxygen variability at interannual to decadal time scale. Here, we combined the Argo dataset and repeated ship-based sections to investigate the drivers of the oxygen variability in the North Atlantic Ocean, a key region for the oxygen supply into the deep ocean. We focus on the Labrador Sea Water in the Irminger Sea over the period 1991–2018 and we show that the oxygen solubility explains less than a third of the oxygen variability. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Charlène Feucher et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00570-y

Read the full article here.


Intermediate water circulation drives distribution of Pliocene Oxygen Minimum Zones

Abstract. 

"Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) play a critical role in global biogeochemical cycling and act as barriers to dispersal for marine organisms. OMZs are currently expanding and intensifying with climate change, however past distributions of OMZs are relatively unknown. Here we present evidence for widespread pelagic OMZs during the Pliocene (5.3-2.6 Ma), the most recent epoch with atmospheric CO2 analogous to modern (~400-450 ppm). The global distribution of OMZ-affiliated planktic foraminifer, Globorotaloides hexagonus, and Earth System and Species Distribution Models show [...]". 

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Catherine V. Davis et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35083-x

Read the full article here. 


The Peruvian oxygen minimum zone was similar in extent but weaker during the Last Glacial Maximum than Late Holocene

Abstract. 

"Quantifying past oxygen concentrations in oceans is crucial to improving understanding of current global ocean deoxygenation. Here, we use a record of pore density of the epibenthic foraminifer Planulina limbata from the Peruvian Oxygen Minimum Zone to reconstruct oxygen concentrations in bottom waters from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Late Holocene at 17.5°S about 500 meters below the sea surface. We found that oxygen levels were 40% lower during the Last Glacial Maximum than during the Late Holocene (about 6.7 versus 11.1 µmol/kg, respectively). [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Nicolaas Glock et al. 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00635-y 

Read the full article here.


Volcanic trigger of ocean deoxygenation during Cordilleran ice sheet retreat

Abstract. 

"North Pacific deoxygenation events during the last deglaciation were sustained over millennia by high export productivity, but the triggering mechanisms and their links to deglacial warming remain uncertain. Here we find that initial deoxygenation in the North Pacific immediately after the Cordilleran ice sheet (CIS) retreat was associated with increased volcanic ash in seafloor sediments. Timing of volcanic inputs relative to CIS retreat suggests that regional explosive volcanism was initiated by ice unloading. […]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Jianghui Du et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05267-y

Read the full article here.


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