Limited ventilation of the central Baltic Sea due to elevated oxygen consumption

The Baltic Sea is known as the world’s largest marine system suffering from accelerating, man-made hypoxia. Notably, despite the nutrient load reduction policy adopted in the 1980s, the oxygen conditions of the Baltic Sea’s deep waters are still worsening. This study disentangles oxygen and hydrogen...

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Main Authors: Lev Naumov, Thomas Neumann, Hagen Radtke, H. E. Markus Meier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Marine Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1175643/full
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author Lev Naumov
Thomas Neumann
Hagen Radtke
H. E. Markus Meier
author_facet Lev Naumov
Thomas Neumann
Hagen Radtke
H. E. Markus Meier
author_sort Lev Naumov
collection DOAJ
description The Baltic Sea is known as the world’s largest marine system suffering from accelerating, man-made hypoxia. Notably, despite the nutrient load reduction policy adopted in the 1980s, the oxygen conditions of the Baltic Sea’s deep waters are still worsening. This study disentangles oxygen and hydrogen sulfide sources and sinks using the results from the 3-dimensional coupled MOM-ERGOM numerical model and investigates ventilation of the deep central Baltic Sea by the 29 biggest oxygen inflows from 1948 to 2018 utilizing the element tagging technic. Everywhere across the central Baltic Sea, except in the Bornholm Basin, a shift in oxygen consumption from sediments to water column and a significant positive trend in hydrogen sulfide content were observed. The most notable changes happened in the northern and western Gotland basins. Mineralization of organic matter, both in the water column and sediments, was identified as the primary driver of the observed changes. A significant negative trend in the lifetime of inflowing oxygen was found everywhere in the central Baltic Sea. It leads to the reduced efficiency of natural ventilation of the central Baltic Sea via the saltwater inflows, especially in the northern and western Gotland basins.
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spelling doaj.art-92150c3a47bc4930b9003deee1ece50d2023-04-24T04:22:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452023-04-011010.3389/fmars.2023.11756431175643Limited ventilation of the central Baltic Sea due to elevated oxygen consumptionLev NaumovThomas NeumannHagen RadtkeH. E. Markus MeierThe Baltic Sea is known as the world’s largest marine system suffering from accelerating, man-made hypoxia. Notably, despite the nutrient load reduction policy adopted in the 1980s, the oxygen conditions of the Baltic Sea’s deep waters are still worsening. This study disentangles oxygen and hydrogen sulfide sources and sinks using the results from the 3-dimensional coupled MOM-ERGOM numerical model and investigates ventilation of the deep central Baltic Sea by the 29 biggest oxygen inflows from 1948 to 2018 utilizing the element tagging technic. Everywhere across the central Baltic Sea, except in the Bornholm Basin, a shift in oxygen consumption from sediments to water column and a significant positive trend in hydrogen sulfide content were observed. The most notable changes happened in the northern and western Gotland basins. Mineralization of organic matter, both in the water column and sediments, was identified as the primary driver of the observed changes. A significant negative trend in the lifetime of inflowing oxygen was found everywhere in the central Baltic Sea. It leads to the reduced efficiency of natural ventilation of the central Baltic Sea via the saltwater inflows, especially in the northern and western Gotland basins.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1175643/fullBaltic SeahypoxiaO2 and H2S budgetsventilationsaltwater inflows
spellingShingle Lev Naumov
Thomas Neumann
Hagen Radtke
H. E. Markus Meier
Limited ventilation of the central Baltic Sea due to elevated oxygen consumption
Frontiers in Marine Science
Baltic Sea
hypoxia
O2 and H2S budgets
ventilation
saltwater inflows
title Limited ventilation of the central Baltic Sea due to elevated oxygen consumption
title_full Limited ventilation of the central Baltic Sea due to elevated oxygen consumption
title_fullStr Limited ventilation of the central Baltic Sea due to elevated oxygen consumption
title_full_unstemmed Limited ventilation of the central Baltic Sea due to elevated oxygen consumption
title_short Limited ventilation of the central Baltic Sea due to elevated oxygen consumption
title_sort limited ventilation of the central baltic sea due to elevated oxygen consumption
topic Baltic Sea
hypoxia
O2 and H2S budgets
ventilation
saltwater inflows
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1175643/full
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AT hagenradtke limitedventilationofthecentralbalticseaduetoelevatedoxygenconsumption
AT hemarkusmeier limitedventilationofthecentralbalticseaduetoelevatedoxygenconsumption