Turbulence Below: Scientists Discover Key to Deep Sea Health

New research shows that summer storms play a vital role in replenishing deep-water oxygen levels in the UK, which is crucial for maintaining marine health as global warming progresses.
Recent research conducted by oceanographers at the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, has demonstrated the critical role of oxygen ‘mixing down’ in sustaining healthy deep-water environments around the UK and beyond.

The groundbreaking research, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that the mixing down of oxygen by summer storms is an important process in topping up the deep water oxygen levels in summer, and so in keeping these seas healthy.

Lead author Professor Tom Rippeth of Bangor University explains, “There is growing concern for the health of our coastal oceans as the climate warms because warmer water holds less oxygen. Living creatures in the ocean are reliant on oxygen to survive in the same way as animals on land are. Oxygen is also used up as rotting matter decomposes in the depths of the ocean. This creates a summer oxygen deficit in the deep seas around the UK. Unfortunately, as our climate warms, this deficit is forecast to grow.”