Articles | Volume 19, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2903-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2903-2022
Research article
 | 
14 Jun 2022
Research article |  | 14 Jun 2022

Causes of the extensive hypoxia in the Gulf of Riga in 2018

Stella-Theresa Stoicescu, Jaan Laanemets, Taavi Liblik, Māris Skudra, Oliver Samlas, Inga Lips, and Urmas Lips

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Cited articles

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Aigars, J., Poikāne, R., Dalsgaard, T., Eglīte, E., and Jansons, M.: Biogeochemistry of N, P and SI in the Gulf of Riga surface sediments: Implications of seasonally changing factors, Cont. Shelf Res., 105, 112–120, 2015. 
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Coastal basins with high input of nutrients often suffer from oxygen deficiency. In summer 2018, the extent of oxygen depletion was exceptional in the Gulf of Riga. We analyzed observational data and found that extensive oxygen deficiency appeared since the water layer close to the seabed, where oxygen is consumed, was separated from the surface layer. The problem worsens if similar conditions restricting vertical transport of oxygen occur more frequently in the future.
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