ALBERT

Description: The ecosystem of the Baltic Sea is endangered by eutrophication. This has triggered expensive international management efforts. Some of these efforts are impeded by natural processes such as nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria blooms that add bioavailable nitrogen to the already over-fertilized system and thereby enhance primary production, export of organic matter to depth, and associated oxygen consumption. Controls of cyanobacteria blooms are not comprehensively understood, and this adds to the uncertainty of model-based projections into the warming future of the Baltic Sea. Here we review our current understanding of cyanobacteria bloom dynamics. We summarize published field studies and laboratory experiments and dissect the basic principles ingrained in state-of-the-art coupled ocean–circulation biogeochemical models.

Description: Estuarine systems are of key importance for the riverine input of silicon (Si) to the ocean, which is a limiting factor of diatom productivity in coastal areas. This study presents a field dataset of surface dissolved Si isotopic compositions (30SiSi(OH)4) obtained in the estuaries of three of the world’s largest rivers, the Amazon (ARE), Yangtze (YRE), and Pearl (PRE), which cover different climate zones. While 30SiSi(OH)4 behaved conservatively in the YRE and PRE supporting a dominant control by water mass mixing, significantly increased 30SiSi(OH)4 signatures due to diatom utilization of Si(OH)4 were observed in the ARE and reflected a Si isotopic enrichment factor 30 of −1.0±0.4‰ (Rayleigh model) or −1.6±0.4‰ (steady state model). In addition, seasonal variability of Si isotope behavior in the YRE was observed by comparison to previous work and most likely resulted from changes in water residence time, temperature, and light level. Based on the 30 value obtained for the ARE, we estimate that the global average 30SiSi(OH)4 entering the ocean is 0.2-0.3‰ higher than that of the rivers due to Si retention in estuaries. This systematic modification of riverine Si isotopic compositions during estuarine mixing, as well as the seasonality of Si isotope dynamics in single estuaries, needs to be taken into account for better constraining the role of large river estuaries in the oceanic Si cycle.

Description: Estuaries are an important contributor to the global carbon budget, facilitating carbon removal, transfer, and transformation between land and the coastal ocean. Estuaries are susceptible to global climate change and anthropogenic perturbations. We find that a long-term significant mid-estuary increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of 6–21 µmol kg−1 yr−1 (1997–2020) in a temperate estuary in Germany (Elbe Estuary) was driven by an increase in upper-estuary particulate organic carbon (POC) content of 8–14 µmol kg−1 yr−1. The temporal POC increase was due to an overall improvement in water quality observed in the form of high rates of primary production and a significant drop in biological oxygen demand. The magnitude of mid-estuary DIC gain was equivalent to the increased POC production in the upper estuary, suggesting that POC is effectively remineralized and retained as DIC in the mid-estuary, with the estuary acting as an efficient natural filter for POC. In the context of this significant long-term DIC increase, a recent extended drought period (2014–2020) significantly lowered the annual mean river discharge (468 ± 234 m3 s−1) compared to the long-term mean (690 ± 441 m3 s−1, 1960–2020), while the late spring internal DIC load in the estuary doubled. The drought induced a longer dry season, starting in May (earlier than normal), increased the residence time in the estuary and allowed for a more complete remineralization period of POC. Annually, 77 %–94 % of the total DIC export was laterally transported to the coastal waters, reaching 89 ± 4.8 Gmol C yr−1, and thus, between 1997 and 2020, only an estimated maximum of 23 % (10 Gmol C yr−1) was released via carbon dioxide (CO2) evasion. Export of DIC to coastal waters decreased significantly during the drought, on average by 24 % (2014–2020: 38 ± 5.4 Gmol C yr−1), compared to the non-drought period. In contrast, there was no change in the water–air CO2 flux during the drought. We have identified that seasonal changes in DIC processing in an estuary require consideration when estimating both the long-term and future changes in water–air CO2 flux and DIC export to coastal waters. Regional and global carbon budgets should therefore take into account carbon cycling estimates in estuaries, as well as their changes over time in relation to impacts of water quality changes and extreme hydrological events.

Description: Highlights: • 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 review paper provides a synthesis 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 and in the coastal environment. • Identification of similar and contrasting responses within and across system types and corresponding oxygen regimes is shown to be informative both in understanding and isolating key controlling processes and provides a sound basis for predicting change under anticipated future conditions. • Case studies were selected to achieve a balance in system diversity and global coverage. • Each case study describes system attributes, including the present-day oxygen environment and known trends in oxygen concentrations over time. • Central to each case study is the identification of the physical and biogeochemical processes that determine oxygen concentrations through the tradeoff between ventilation and respiration. • Spatial distributions of oxygen and time series of oxygen data provide the opportunity to identify trends in oxygen availability and have allowed various drivers of low oxygen to be distinguished through correlative and causative relationships. • Deoxygenation results from a complex interplay of hydrographic and biogeochemical processes and the superposition of these processes, some additive and others subtractive, makes attribution to any particular driver challenging. • System-specific models are therefore required to achieve a quantitative understanding of these processes and of the feedbacks between processes at varying scales. 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 and in the coastal environment. Identification of similar and contrasting responses within and across system types and corresponding oxygen regimes is shown to be informative both in understanding and isolating key controlling processes and provides a sound basis for predicting change under anticipated future conditions. Case studies were selected to achieve a balance in system diversity and global coverage. Each case study describes system attributes, including the present-day oxygen environment and known trends in oxygen concentrations over time. Central to each case study is the identification of the physical and biogeochemical processes that determine oxygen concentrations through the tradeoff between ventilation and respiration. Spatial distributions of oxygen and time series of oxygen data provide the opportunity to identify trends in oxygen availability and have allowed various drivers of low oxygen to be distinguished through correlative and causative relationships. Deoxygenation results from a complex interplay of hydrographic and biogeochemical processes and the superposition of these processes, some additive and others subtractive, makes attribution to any particular driver challenging. System-specific models are therefore required to achieve a quantitative understanding of these processes and of the feedbacks between processes at varying scales.