Reconstructing past oxygen minimums with an eye to the future
Tuesday, February 9, 2016 - 10:41
in Earth & Climate
A recent paper published in PLOS ONE uses geochemical and fossil evidence from the period of global warming at the end of the last ice age to reconstruct the depth and extent of ocean areas with dissolved oxygen below those necessary for most organisms to function. The results show that warming was associated with increases in the extent of hypoxic zones, and that these zones also intruded further toward the surface of the oceans near continental margins, areas with high species density and diversity. The results provide an example of how oceans may respond as the climate warms under current global warming scenarios.