The General Relationship between Mean Dissolved Oxygen Concentrations and Timescales in Estuaries

Abstract

The onset of hypoxia is a consequence of the competition between oxygen replenishment, production, and consumption. Dissolved oxygen (DO) levels inside an estuary depend on the balance between physical processes that transport oxygen-rich water into the estuary, including upstream freshwater advection, gravitational circulation, and vertical mixing, and biochemical processes that produce and consume oxygen, such as photosynthesis, respiration, and organic decomposition. We propose a general relationship between the physical and biochemical processes with a Lagrangian perspective to interpolate mean DO concentrations at local and system levels to assess the onset of hypoxia in an estuary. Simple parameters using timescales are proposed for cross-system comparison of hypoxia and anoxia conditions. Our study demonstrates that the hypoxia of an estuary system is determined by the timescales of vertical exchange, freshwater and saltwater transport, and DO consumption. When the vertical exchange timescale is shorter than the residence time in a system, vertical exchange dominates DO replenishment, while shorter residence time enhances advection, which quickly inputs DO-rich water to regulate hypoxia. The interplay between DO consumption and dynamic DO replenishment is the primary determinant of hypoxia in an estuary.