New research led by oceanographers from the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University has shown for the first time the important role of the ‘mixing down’ of oxygen in maintaining healthy conditions in the deep waters around the UK and elsewhere.
New research led by oceanographers from the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University has shown for the first time the important role of the ‘mixing down’ of oxygen in maintaining healthy conditions in the deep waters around the UK and elsewhere.
The groundbreaking research, published today in Nature Communications, demonstrates that the mixing down of oxygen by summer storms is an important process in topping up the deep water oxygen levels in summer, and so in keeping these seas healthy.
Lead author Professor Tom Rippeth of Bangor University explains, “There is growing concern for the health of our coastal oceans as the climate warms because warmer water holds less oxygen. Living creatures in the ocean are reliant on oxygen to survive in the same way as animals on land are. Oxygen is also used up as rotting matter decomposes in the depths of the ocean. This creates a summer oxygen deficit in the deep seas around the UK. Unfortunately, as our climate warms, this deficit is forecast to grow.”
The formation of stratification in the summer in the deeper water around the UK isolates the deep water from the atmosphere, which is the main source of oxygen.
Read more at Bangor University
Image: Bangor University's research vessel, the Prince Madog. (Credit: Bangor University)
