Abstract
<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> This study presents an oxygen time series of the Gulf Mexico deep water region spanning from 2010 to 2019 using data from 6 oceanographic cruises and one ARGO buoy. The data suggest a deoxygenation trend in the thermocline of the Gulf of Mexico. This deoxygenation trend seems to be connected to a reduction in the number of eddies that detached from the Loop Current from 2010 to 2019 observed with altimetry data from the last two decades, and although the average size of the mesoscale structures shows a slight increase, the average detached area per year almost halved from the 2000–2010 decade to the 2010–2020 decade. Using the oxygen measurements and the altimetry data, a simple box model was formulated to reproduce the measured oxygen temporal variability in the GoM main thermocline from 2000 to 2020. The results from the box model suggest that an average detached Loop Current Eddy area of about 90 000 km<sup>2</sup> per year is needed in order to maintain constant oxygen levels in the main thermocline waters. This threshold wasn’t reached during the 2010 to 2020 decade and if the LCE detachment area per year continues to decrease in the future, oxygen concentrations in the Gulf of Mexico thermocline might continue to fall with still unknown effects in the ecological web structure at these depths.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
