Seasonal nearshore ocean acidification and deoxygenation in the Southern California Bight

The California Current System experiences seasonal ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) owing to wind-driven upwelling, but little is known about the intensity, frequency, and depth distribution of OAH in the shallow nearshore environment. Here we present observations of OAH and dissolved inorganic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kekuewa, Samuel AH, Courtney, Travis A, Cyronak, Tyler, Andersson, Andreas J
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: eScholarship, University of California 2022
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Online Access:https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1xv0b9n3
Description
Summary:The California Current System experiences seasonal ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) owing to wind-driven upwelling, but little is known about the intensity, frequency, and depth distribution of OAH in the shallow nearshore environment. Here we present observations of OAH and dissolved inorganic carbon and nutrient parameters based on monthly transects from March 2017 to September 2018 extending from the surf zone to the ~ 40m depth contour in La Jolla, California. Biologically concerning OAH conditions were observed at depths as shallow as 10m and as close as 700m to the shoreline. Below 20m depth, 8% of observations were undersaturated with respect to aragonite, 28% of observations had a pHT less than 7.85, and 19% of observations were below the sublethal oxygen threshold of 157µmolkg-1. These observations raise important questions about the impacts of OAH on coastal organisms and ecosystems and how future intensified upwelling may exacerbate these conditions.