Zhou Yuntao's team of Shanghai Jiaotong University used observational data to confirm the rapid expansion of the minimum oxygen-containing zone in the ocean in the past 60 years

Recently, Associate Professor Zhou Yuntao from the School of Oceanography of Shanghai Jiao Tong University published a research paper entitled "Responses of horizontally expanding oceanic oxygen minimum zones to climate change based on observations" on Geophysical Research Letters as the first and corresponding author

The low-oxygen water layer in the open ocean is called the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ), and its size and spatial distribution affect marine life, species composition, habitat, and biogeochemical cycles

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Using a dataset of dissolved oxygen observations from 1960 to 2019, this study reveals that the global ocean minimum dissolved oxygen and its depth of existence have significant spatial heterogeneity (Fig.

Figure 2 Annual average area and change trend of OMZ20 and OMZ60 from 1960 to 2019

The results show that during the period 1960–2019, the global average area of ​​OMZ20 (dissolved oxygen concentration DO<20 μmol/kg) and OMZ60 (DO<60 μmol/kg) was 30 million km2 and 80 million km2, respectively , accounting for 9% and 23% of the global ocean area (Figure 2)

Zhou Yuntao, associate professor and doctoral supervisor of School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Paper link : https://agupubs.