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Intensified oxygen minimum zone on the western shelf of Bay of Bengal during summer monsoon: influence of river discharge

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Abstract

A study on biogeochemical cycling in the west coastal Bay of Bengal was undertaken during the peak discharge period to understand the influence of enhanced stratification and primary production on the possible intensification of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). Our study reveals that oxygen concentrations were below the detection limits in the northwestern (NW) coastal Bay of Bengal between 100 and 500 m associated with strong stratification and high phytoplankton biomass. Such low oxygen concentrations have never been reported so far from the coastal Bay of Bengal. Despite the existence of an environment conducive to denitrification in the coastal Bay of Bengal, accumulation of neither secondary nitrite nor nitrous oxide (N2O) was observed. The absence of denitrification was reported to be caused by faster scavenging of organic matter and low bacterial respiration rates; in contrast, our results suggest that neither of these factors are potential reasons for the absence of denitrification in the coastal Bay of Bengal.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Director, NIO, Goa, and Scientist-in-Charge for encouragement and support. This work is a part of the Supra Institutional Project (SIP 1308) funded by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). We appreciate the help of the ship’s master, officers, and crew during sampling and also thank the Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) for allotting ship time for this study. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions to help to improve the clarity of the manuscript. 5288 is NIO contribution number.

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  1. National Institute of Oceanography, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Regional Centre, 176 Lawsons Bay Colony, Visakhapatnam, 530003, India

    V. V. S. S. Sarma, M. S. Krishna, R. Viswanadham, G. D. Rao, V. D. Rao, B. Sridevi, B. S. K. Kumar, V. R. Prasad, Ch. V. Subbaiah, T. Acharyya & D. Bandopadhyay

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  1. V. V. S. S. Sarma
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  2. M. S. Krishna
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  3. R. Viswanadham
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  4. G. D. Rao
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  5. V. D. Rao
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  9. Ch. V. Subbaiah
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Correspondence to V. V. S. S. Sarma.

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Sarma, V.V.S.S., Krishna, M.S., Viswanadham, R. et al. Intensified oxygen minimum zone on the western shelf of Bay of Bengal during summer monsoon: influence of river discharge. J Oceanogr 69, 45–55 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-012-0156-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-012-0156-2

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