Abstract
Two fundamental sign errors were found in a computer code used for studying the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) and hypoxia in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. These errors invalidate the conclusions drawn from the model, and call into question a proposed mechanism for generating OMZ that challenges classical understanding. The study in question is being cited frequently, leading the discipline in the wrong direction.
Highlights
Based on the results of an idealized dissolved oxygen numerical model of the Estuary and Gulf of St
Lawrence Estuary are primarily controlled by the flow over the variable bathymetry, rather than by the decrease with depth of oxygen consumption by marine organisms, as is commonly argued [3,4,5]
This led them to conclude that “physics controls spatial patterns”. By that they argue that it is the variable bathymetry that is responsible for the creation of the oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) and that this OMZ would not otherwise exist if the bottom of the Laurentian Channel were flat
Summary
Lefort (2011) [1] and Lefort et al (2012) [2] arrived at a conclusion that challenges previously published views of oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) and hypoxia in coastal waters They concluded that the OMZ in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and hypoxia in the St. Lawrence Estuary are primarily controlled by the flow over the variable bathymetry, rather than by the decrease with depth of oxygen consumption by marine organisms, as is commonly argued [3,4,5]. Lawrence Estuary are primarily controlled by the flow over the variable bathymetry, rather than by the decrease with depth of oxygen consumption by marine organisms, as is commonly argued [3,4,5] This led them to conclude that “physics controls spatial patterns”. By that they argue that it is the variable bathymetry that is responsible for the creation of the OMZ and that this OMZ would not otherwise exist if the bottom of the Laurentian Channel were flat
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