Abstract.

"The expansion of transient and permanent coastal benthic anoxia is one of the most severe problems for the coastal ocean globally. We report frequent, hidden hypoxia in the bottom 5 cm of the water column of a coastal site in the central Baltic Sea by continuous high-resolution profiling of oxygen (O2) directly above the sediment surface. This hypoxia stood in stark contrast to 30-yr O2 monitoring records at this site that suggest apparent continuous well-oxygenated conditions. [...]".

 

Source: Wiley Online Library
Authors: Jonas Patrik Fredriksson et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12607

Read the full article here.

Abstract.

"Oxygen declination in coastal oceans has accelerated drastically in recent decades, both in terms of severity and spatial extent, and such disappearance of oxygen leads to dead zones where life can't survive. This phenomenon is mainly attributed to nutrient pollution and climate change due to intensified anthropogenic activities. The annual statistical oxygen mean concentrations showed the current deoxygenation trends based on (WOA_2001–2018) data comparison of 200 m below the surface water from the first two decades of the 21st century. [...]".

 

Source: Science Direct
Authors: Md Mesbah Uddin Bhuiyan et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscee.2024.100621

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Abstract.

"The mitigation of climate change and pollution-related hypoxia and anoxia is a growing challenge for coastal communities. Known ocean conservation measures do not show the desired fast results counteracting deoxygenation. The new infrastructure related to the coastal production of renewable energies linked to the production of green hydrogen can provide new possibilities of artificial ocean reoxygenation to mitigate coastal hypoxia, but has to be treated urgently and seriously from different scientific, engineering and socio-economic angles. [...]".

 

Source: Wiley Online Library
Authors: Patricia Handmann & Douglas Wallace
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17228

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Abstract.

"The occurrences of summer hypoxia in coastal California Current can significantly affect the benthic and pelagic habitat and lead to complex ecosystem changes. Model-simulated hypoxia in this region is strongly spatially heterogeneous, and its future changes show uncertainties depending on the model used. Here, we used an ensemble of the new generation Earth system models to examine the present-day and future changes of summer hypoxia in this region. We applied model-specific thresholds combined with empirical bias adjustments of the dissolved oxygen variance to identify hypoxia. [...]".

 

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science 
Authors: Hui Shi et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1205536

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Abstract.

"The decline of oxygen levels in coastal waters has emerged as a significant and pressing concern, carrying extensive ecological and environmental ramifications. Coastal areas, the interface between land and sea, represent intricate and dynamic ecosystems that hold paramount importance for global biodiversity and sustain a multitude of human activities. Nevertheless, these coastal regions are confronted with mounting stressors originating from both human-induced factors such as nutrient pollution [...]".

 

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Weiwei Fu & Tsuneo Ono
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1316092

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Abstract.

"Multiple climate-driven stressors, including warming and increased nutrient delivery, are exacerbating hypoxia in coastal marine environments. Within coastal watersheds, environmental managers are particularly interested in climate impacts on terrestrial processes, which may undermine the efficacy of management actions designed to reduce eutrophication and consequent low-oxygen conditions in receiving coastal waters. However, substantial uncertainty accompanies the application of Earth system model (ESM) projections to a regional modeling framework when quantifying future changes to estuarine hypoxia due to climate change. [...]".

 

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Kyle E. Hinson et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1937-2023

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Abstract. 

"Coastal eutrophication and hypoxia remain a persistent environmental crisis despite the great efforts to reduce nutrient loading and mitigate associated environmental damages. Symptoms of this crisis have appeared to spread rapidly, reaching developing countries in Asia with emergences in Southern America and Africa. The pace of changes and the underlying drivers remain not so clear. To address the gap, we review the up-to-date status and mechanisms of eutrophication and hypoxia in global coastal oceans, upon which we examine the trajectories of changes over the 40 years or longer in six model coastal systems [...]".

 

Source: Cambridge University Press
Authors: Minhan Dai et al. 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.7

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Abstract. 

"Sea water samples were collected at five stations around Mauritius namely Flic-en-Flac, Albion, Mont Choisy, Trou-d’Eau-Douce and La Cambuse over 12 months from July 2021 to June 2022 for the analysis of dissolved oxygen (D.O), pH and Total alkalinity (). Albion was the only open water system whereas the others were lagoons. Summer was from November 2021 to April 2022 while the period from July 2021 to October 2021, May 2022 and June 2022 were considered to be winter. The summer mean values of sea surface temperature (SST) [...]".

 

Source: Science Direct
Authors: Yadhav Abhilesh Imrit et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2023.102815

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Abstract. 

"Sedimentary molybdenum (Mo) and uranium (U) enrichments are widely used to reconstruct changes in bottom water oxygen conditions in aquatic environments. Until now, most studies using Mo and U have focused on restricted suboxic-euxinic basins and continental margin oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), leaving mildly reducing and oxic (but eutrophic) coastal depositional environments vastly understudied. Currently, it is unknown: (1) to what extent Mo and U enrichment factors (Mo- and U-EFs) can accurately reconstruct oxygen conditions in coastal sites experiencing mild deoxygenation, and (2) to what degree secondary [...]". 

 

Source: Science Direct 
Authors: K. Mareike Paul et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121203

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Abstract. 

"Ocean deoxygenation could potentially trigger substantial changes in the composition and reactivity of dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool, which plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. To evaluate links between DOM dynamics and oxygen availability, we investigated the DOM composition under varying levels of oxygen in a seasonally hypoxic fjord through a monthly time-series over two years. We used ultrahigh-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) to characterize DOM on a molecular level. [...]".

 

Source: Science Direct 
Authors: Xiao Chen et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118690

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Abstract. 

"Coastal hypoxia—harmfully low levels of oxygen—is a mounting problem that jeopardizes coastal ecosystems and economies. The northern Indian Ocean is particularly susceptible due to human-induced impacts, vast naturally occurring oxygen minimum zones, and strong variability associated with the seasonal monsoons and interannual Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). We assess how natural factors influence the risk of coastal hypoxia by combining a large set of oxygen measurements with satellite observations to examine how the IOD amplifies or suppresses seasonal hypoxia tied to the Asian Monsoon. We show that on both seasonal and interannual timescales hypoxia is controlled by wind- and coastal Kelvin wave-driven upwelling of oxygen-poor waters onto the continental shelf and reinforcing biological feedbacks (increased subsurface oxygen demand). [...]".

 

Source: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Authors: Jenna Pearson et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB007192

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Abstract.

"The epoch of the Anthropocene, a period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment, has witnessed a decline in oxygen concentrations and an expansion of oxygen-depleted environments in both coastal and open ocean systems since the middle of the 20th century. This paper provides a review of system-specific drivers of low oxygen in a range of case studies representing marine systems in the open ocean, on continental shelves, in enclosed seas[...]".

 

Source: Science Direct
Authors: Grant C. Pitcher
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2021.102613

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Abstract.

"In coastal regions, rivers and streams may be important sources of nutrients limiting to primary production in marine waters; however, sampling is still rarely conducted across the land-to-ocean aquatic continuum, precluding conclusions from being drawn about connectivity between freshwater and marine systems. Here we use a more-than-4-year dataset (2014–2018) of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, silica, iron) and dissolved organic carbon spanning streams draining coastal watersheds and nearshore marine surface waters along the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, at the heart of the North Pacific coastal temperate[...]"

 

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Kyra A. St. Pierre et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3029-2021

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Abstract.

"Urban and periurban ocean developments impact 1.5% of the global exclusive economic zones, and the demand for ocean space and resources is increasing. As we strive for a more sustainable future, it is imperative that we better design, manage, and conserve urban ocean spaces for both humans and nature. We identify three key objectives for more sustainable urban oceans: reduction of urban pressures, protection and restoration of ocean ecosystems, and support of critical ecosystem services. We describe an array of emerging evidence-based approaches, including greening grayinfrastructure, restoring habitats, and developing biotechnologies.

 

Source: ANNUAL REVIEWS
Authors: Laura Airoldi et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-032020-020015

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Abstract.

"Macroalgal beds have drawn attention as one of the vegetated coastal ecosystems that act as atmospheric CO₂ sinks. Although macroalgal metabolism as well as inorganic and organic carbon flows are important pathways for CO₂ uptake by macroalgal beds, the relationships between macroalgal metabolism and associated carbon flows are still poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated carbon flows, including air–water CO₂ exchange and budgets of dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), in a temperate macroalgal bed during the productive months of the year. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Auhtors: Kenta Watanabe et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-17-2425-2020

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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.

"Bays in coastal upwelling regions are physically driven and biochemically fueled by their interaction with open coastal waters. Wind-driven flow over the shelf imposes a circulation in the bay, which is also influenced by local wind stress and thermal bay–ocean density differences. Three types of bays are recognized based on the degree of exposure to coastal currents and winds (wide-open bays, square bays, and elongated bays), and the characteristic circulation and stratification patterns of each type are described. Retention of upwelled waters in bays allows for dense phytoplankton blooms that support productive bay ecosystems.  [...]"

Source:  Annual Review of Marine Science
Authors: John L. Largier
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-marine-010419-011020

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"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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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

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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.

"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

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Abstract.

"Globally, there has been a decrease in dissolved oxygen in the oceans, that is more pronounced in coastal waters, resulting in more frequent hypoxia exposure for many marine animals. Managing hypoxia requires an understanding of the dynamics of dissolved oxygen (DO) where it occurs. The French coast facing the Bay of Biscay (N-E Atlantic Ocean) hosts at least a dozen tidal and turbid estuaries, but only the large estuaries of the Gironde and the Loire, are subject to a continuous monitoring. [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science 
Authors: Sabine Schmidt et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00352

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Abstract.

"Instrumented moorings (hereafter referred to as moorings), which are anchored buoys or an anchored configuration of instruments suspended in the water column, are highly valued for their ability to host a variety of interchangeable oceanographic and meteorological sensors. This flexibility makes them a useful technology for meeting end user and science-driven requirements. [...]"

Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Kathleen Bailey et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00180

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Abstract.

"A quantification of carbon fluxes in the coastal ocean and across its boundaries with the atmosphere, land, and the open ocean is important for assessing the current state and projecting future trends in ocean carbon uptake and coastal ocean acidification, but this is currently a missing component of global carbon budgeting. This synthesis reviews recent progress in characterizing these carbon fluxes for the North American coastal ocean. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Katja Fennel et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-16-1281-2019

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Abstract.

"The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) and the reefs they create provide significant ecosystem services. This study measured their possible role in nutrient mitigation through bioassimilation, burial, and oyster-mediated sediment denitrification in near-shore shallow water (< 1 m water depth) and deep-water (> 1 m water depth) oyster reefs in Louisiana. Nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) in shell and tissue differed by oyster reproductive status, size, and habitat type. [...]"

Source: Marine Biology
Authors: Phillip Westbrook, Leanna Heffner, Megan K. La Peyre
DOI: 10.1007/s00227-018-3449-1

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"Upwelling hinders an efficient method to estimate a key measure of biological productivity in coastal waters, but accounting for surface temperatures could boost accuracy.

 

Although coastal waters make up only about 10% of the surface area of the ocean, they harbor most of its life. Measuring biological activity in these regions can reveal their impact on fisheries, low-oxygen dead zones, and the global carbon cycle, but coastal zones remain understudied. Now new research by Teeter et al. suggests how to improve the accuracy of a method that uses oxygen and argon measurements to quickly estimate marine biological activity. [...]"

Source: EOS

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Abstract.

"Climate change, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, excess nutrient inputs, and pollution in its many forms are fundamentally altering the chemistry of the ocean, often on a global scale and, in some cases, at rates greatly exceeding those in the historical and recent geological record. Major observed trends include a shift in the acid-base chemistry of seawater, reduced subsurface oxygen both in near-shore coastal water and in the open ocean, rising coastal nitrogen levels, and widespread increase in mercury and persistent organic pollutants. [...]"

Source: Science
Author: Scott C. Doney
DOI: 10.1126/science.1185198

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"Scientists have shown that coastal waters and river estuaries can exhibit unique vulnerabilities to acidification than offshore waters. This acidification, detected in waters off the United States West Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, can lead to disorientation and cognitive problems in some marine fish species, such as salmon, sharks, and cod. This work is presented at the Goldschmidt Conference in Boston.

 

Scientists have recently discovered that marine creatures can be adversely affected by hypercapnia, a condition of too much dissolved CO₂ in seawater (CO₂ partial pressure, or pCO₂). When this level rises above 1000 micro atmospheres (1000 μatm), some fish species suffer cognitive problems and disorientation, such as losing their way or even swimming towards predators. Surface ocean CO₂ partial pressures tend to be around 400 μatm, so until now scientists have thought that hypercapnia was a problem which would only become apparent over time in subsurface waters. [...]"

Source: Phys.org

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Abstract.

"The adaptation of some benthic foraminiferal species to low-oxygen conditions provides the prospect of using the chemical composition of their tests as proxies for bottom water oxygenation. Manganese may be particularly suitable as such a geochemical proxy because this redox element is soluble in reduced form (Mn²⁺) and hence can be incorporated into benthic foraminiferal tests under low-oxygen conditions. [...]"

Source: Biogeosciences
Authors: Jassin Petersen et al.
DOI: 10.5194/bg-15-331-2018

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Abstract.

"The combined effects of anthropogenic and biological CO₂ inputs may lead to more rapid acidification in coastal waters compared to the open ocean. It is less clear, however, how redox reactions would contribute to acidification. Here we report estuarine acidification dynamics based on oxygen, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), pH, dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity data from the Chesapeake Bay, where anthropogenic nutrient inputs have led to eutrophication, hypoxia and anoxia, and low pH. [...]"

Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Wei-Jun Cai
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00417-7

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Abstract.

"Observations have suggested a trend of decreasing dissolved oxygen (DO) and increasing spiciness in summertime mid-depth slope waters and bottom shelf waters along the United States west coast over the past 50 years, but they have also demonstrated a large amount of interannual and decadal variability. Shelf bottom water and slope water properties can be influenced by both local and remote effects, including changes in circulation or changes in the characteristics of the source waters supplying the region. [...]"

Source: Oceans
Authors: Scott M. Durski et al.
DOI: 10.1002/2017JC013089

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Abstract.

"Nitrogen (N) input to the coastal oceans has increased considerably because of anthropogenic activities, however, concurrent increases have not occurred in open oceans. It has been suggested that benthic denitrification in sandy coastal sediments is a sink for this N. Sandy sediments are dynamic permeable environments, where electron acceptor and donor concentrations fluctuate over short temporal and spatial scales. The response of denitrifiers to these fluctuations are largely unknown, although previous observations suggest they may denitrify under aerobic conditions. We examined the response of benthic denitrification to fluctuating oxygen concentrations, finding that denitrification not only occurred at high O₂ concentrations but was stimulated by frequent switches between oxic and anoxic conditions. [...]"

Source: The ISME Journal
Authors: Hannah K Marchant et al.
DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2017.51

Full article