Identifying drivers of deoxygenation in the water column of the Eckernförde Bay

durch Helmke Hepach

Mittwoch 17.12.2025, 13:15 → 14:30 Europe/Berlin

8A-002 - Hörsaal Ostufer / Lecture Hall East (GEOMAR - Standort Ostufer / GEOMAR - East Shore)

Abstract:

The Baltic Sea is in bad state. Anthropogenic pressures such as climate change and eutrophication have degraded the Baltic Sea ecosystem more than other ocean basins in the world. Although the impact of these pressures was recognized early on and several EU-wide regulations were set in place to restore the good environmental status of the Baltic Sea, its ecosystem continues to degrade. One of the longest sustained marine LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) stations in the world, Boknis Eck, is located in the Southwestern Baltic Sea and has been sampled since 1957. The dynamics at the time-series station were identified to be representative for the whole region. These dynamics include more frequently occurring oxygen minimum events despite decreasing nutrient concentrations. We here explore drivers of ocean deoxygenation with regard to climate change and oxygen uptake due to microbial cycling of organic matter bacterial.