Oxygen-starved ocean 'deserts' emerging

by wise-monty | May 2, 2008 at 06:19 am
436 views | 19 Recommendations | 4 comments

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Underwater "deserts" are emerging in tropical oceans as the oxygen vanishes from seawater, warns a new study.

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René
René
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:54 on May 2nd, 2008

What's interesting is the contrasting views in the three articles associated with this article.  I wonder if the huge garbage patches floating in the oceans have anything to do with this oxygen problem. wise-monty, I like this story. It's good stuff.

mtippett
mtippett
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:17 on May 2nd, 2008

Thank you for posting this.

0
ScienceDave

The original article isn't quite accurate in it's portrayal of these so-called deserts - there are actually many organisms living in these regions, but they aren't fish, krill, etc. (i.e. things most people identify ocean organisms as being).  However, a whole consortium of bacteria inhabit so these waters - bacteria specifically adapted to use chemicals either than oxygen to carry out their metabolic needs - munching away on the sinking blooms of phytoplankton that previosuly grew in the sunlit surface waters above.

Roberto Alvarez-Galloso
Roberto Alvarez-Galloso
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:43 on May 2nd, 2008

wise-monty, I like this story. It's good stuff.

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