Nearshore internal bores increase hypoxia risk

Abstract

In the coastal ocean, internal waves that break on the continental shelf can send pulses of water, known as bores, into the shallows. These internal bores can cause dramatic and rapid changes in the density of the water and the concentration of dissolved oxygen when they transport cold, low‐oxygen waters from the deeper parts of the ocean into the nearshore coastal environment. Such a rapid, shock‐like decrease in oxygen concentration can have serious ecological consequences.