Photo: Day.Аz the Arabian sea is dead: the oxygen minimum zone from its coast is rapidly increasing in size

“Dead zones” occurring at depths of 200-800 meters and are the result of the warming water.

Scientists from the University of East Anglia announced a sharp reduction in the amount of oxygen in the Gulf of Oman (North-West Arabian sea). Growing dead zone was discovered with the help of underwater robot Seaglider, which can dive to a depth of thousands of feet and to work for several months, reports EurekAlert!

Today we know about several “oxygen minimum zones” (ZKM), located at depths greater than 200 metres off the Western continental coasts, where water mixing is difficult and the whole of its oxygen is quickly consumed by living organisms. One of them is located in the Arabian sea, stretching between the shores of India, Iran and Oman is a region exclusively active navigation. And judging by the new work, “dead zone” rapidly increasing in size.

Robots work in the Gulf of Oman for eight months. They communicated with satellites in order to create an underwater map of oxygen levels. In the result, it was found that the oxygen minimum zone can be compared to the size of Scotland.

In addition, the researchers were able to detect that the “dead zone” moves up and down with the change of seasons that causes fish to concentrate in a narrow strip at the water surface.

Note that the “dead zones” occurring at depths of 200-800 meters and are the result of the warming water and increasing the concentration of organic substances that come with sushi along with wastewater and fertilizers.

Earlier it was reported that the patch of garbage in the Pacific ocean is three times the size of France.

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