Centennial changes in North Pacific anoxia linked to tropical trade winds

Curtis Deutsch; William Berelson; Robert Thunell; Thomas Weber; Caitlin Tems; James McManus; John Crusius; Taka Ito; Timothy Baumgartner; Vicente Ferreira; Jacob Mey; Alexander Van Geen

doi:10.1126/science.1252332

Centennial changes in North Pacific anoxia linked to tropical trade winds

Curtis Deutsch, William Berelson, Robert Thunell, Thomas Weber, Caitlin Tems, James McManus, John Crusius, Taka Ito, Timothy Baumgartner, Vicente Ferreira, Jacob Mey, Alexander Van Geen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

135 Scopus citations

Abstract

Climate warming is expected to reduce oxygen (O₂) supply to the ocean and expand its oxygen minimum zones (OMZs).We reconstructed variations in the extent of North Pacific anoxia since 1850 using a geochemical proxy for denitrification (δ¹⁵N) from multiple sediment cores. Increasing δ¹⁵N since -1990 records an expansion of anoxia, consistent with observed O₂ trends. However, this was preceded by a longer declining δ¹⁵N trend that implies that the anoxic zone was shrinking for most of the 20th century. Both periods can be explained by changes in winds over the tropical Pacific that drive upwelling, biological productivity, and O₂ demand within the OMZ. If equatorial Pacific winds resume their predicted weakening trend, the ocean's largest anoxic zone will contract despite a global O₂ decline.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	665-668
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	345
Issue number	6197
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1252332
State	Published - Aug 8 2014
Externally published	Yes

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10.1126/science.1252332

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title = "Centennial changes in North Pacific anoxia linked to tropical trade winds",

abstract = "Climate warming is expected to reduce oxygen (O2) supply to the ocean and expand its oxygen minimum zones (OMZs).We reconstructed variations in the extent of North Pacific anoxia since 1850 using a geochemical proxy for denitrification (δ15N) from multiple sediment cores. Increasing δ15N since -1990 records an expansion of anoxia, consistent with observed O2 trends. However, this was preceded by a longer declining δ15N trend that implies that the anoxic zone was shrinking for most of the 20th century. Both periods can be explained by changes in winds over the tropical Pacific that drive upwelling, biological productivity, and O2 demand within the OMZ. If equatorial Pacific winds resume their predicted weakening trend, the ocean's largest anoxic zone will contract despite a global O2 decline.",

author = "Curtis Deutsch and William Berelson and Robert Thunell and Thomas Weber and Caitlin Tems and James McManus and John Crusius and Taka Ito and Timothy Baumgartner and Vicente Ferreira and Jacob Mey and {Van Geen}, Alexander",

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T1 - Centennial changes in North Pacific anoxia linked to tropical trade winds

AU - Deutsch, Curtis

AU - Berelson, William

AU - Thunell, Robert

AU - Weber, Thomas

AU - Tems, Caitlin

AU - McManus, James

AU - Crusius, John

AU - Ito, Taka

AU - Baumgartner, Timothy

AU - Ferreira, Vicente

AU - Mey, Jacob

AU - Van Geen, Alexander

PY - 2014/8/8

Y1 - 2014/8/8

N2 - Climate warming is expected to reduce oxygen (O2) supply to the ocean and expand its oxygen minimum zones (OMZs).We reconstructed variations in the extent of North Pacific anoxia since 1850 using a geochemical proxy for denitrification (δ15N) from multiple sediment cores. Increasing δ15N since -1990 records an expansion of anoxia, consistent with observed O2 trends. However, this was preceded by a longer declining δ15N trend that implies that the anoxic zone was shrinking for most of the 20th century. Both periods can be explained by changes in winds over the tropical Pacific that drive upwelling, biological productivity, and O2 demand within the OMZ. If equatorial Pacific winds resume their predicted weakening trend, the ocean's largest anoxic zone will contract despite a global O2 decline.

AB - Climate warming is expected to reduce oxygen (O2) supply to the ocean and expand its oxygen minimum zones (OMZs).We reconstructed variations in the extent of North Pacific anoxia since 1850 using a geochemical proxy for denitrification (δ15N) from multiple sediment cores. Increasing δ15N since -1990 records an expansion of anoxia, consistent with observed O2 trends. However, this was preceded by a longer declining δ15N trend that implies that the anoxic zone was shrinking for most of the 20th century. Both periods can be explained by changes in winds over the tropical Pacific that drive upwelling, biological productivity, and O2 demand within the OMZ. If equatorial Pacific winds resume their predicted weakening trend, the ocean's largest anoxic zone will contract despite a global O2 decline.

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Centennial changes in North Pacific anoxia linked to tropical trade winds

Abstract

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