Скачать или смотреть What Can Live in an Oxygen Minimum Zone?

During our Around Africa Expedition with OceanQuest, the OceanXplorer passed over an oxygen minimum zone, also known as an OMZ. These extreme zones have very low levels of oxygen, making it a difficult place to sustain marine life, but not impossible for some creatures.

We passed over the zone while we had our Early Career Explorers on board in partnership with POGO (‪@POGO_Ocean‬), presenting a great opportunity to utilize the assets on OceanXplorer to learn more about this zone and region.

OMZs naturally occur in the ocean due to many reasons such as upwelling, plankton productivity and distinct stratified layers. However, these zones are becoming more common partly due to rising ocean temperatures, as warm water cannot hold onto as much oxygen as cold water can.

Studying these extreme zones and the life in them is helpful for understanding how marine ecosystems and ocean biodiversity can change in the coming future. They also can give us a snapshot into what our ancient oceans were like before phytoplankton accumulated large amounts of oxygen.

‪@OBONOcean‬