Southern Ocean oxygen variability since the last glacial maximum

• Research Theme
  Oceans & Cryosphere
• Cross-disciplinary Theme(s)
  Climate Change; Ocean-Earth System
• Funded By

  Australian Research Council
  From 2013 to 2016

• Principal Investigator

  Dr Zanna Chase

• Contributor(s)

• Project Summary

  There is growing evidence for a decrease in ocean oxygen concentrations over the past few decades, but the causes are not understood. This is a problem because small decreases in ocean oxygen content can substantially increase the extent of critically low oxygen zones, leading to decreases in marine biodiversity, loss of ocean fertility and increases in greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, thus amplifying climate change. This project seeks to clarify the links between climate change and ocean oxygen content. Outcomes of this project include a reconstruction of the oxygen content of Southern Ocean waters since the last ice age, understanding changes in oxygen due to physics and biology, and improved oxygen proxies.

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